One Piece: Magician on Board
by 1337box
Summary: Ezekiel Vane is an ordinary guy who had something extraordinary happen to him. Maybe it was supposed to happen. Maybe it was destiny, karma or whatever people go on about. He does know one thing for sure... nothing's ever going to be the same again. On Hiatus.
1. Be careful what you wish for

**Chapter 1: Be Careful What You Wish For. **

**Note: This is my first fanfic work and I already know how much my literature in English sucks. Do know that i'm not forcing anyone to read this and even though I accept flames and the like. There are some lines that I hope the readers here won't cross as I will immediately delete them or just plainly ignore them.**

**This fic is mostly a Oc-centric with OP and Naruto crossover (The latter with their Jutsus and all). There will be others too, but not as much as the primary ones.**

**I took a huge liking to write things down here and being complimented on it helps me a lot here and outside the net. **

**My writing is slowly improving so there might be few breaks for me to correct the previous chapters. I hope ya'll like it.**

**Remember to review.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

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><p>RING RING RING <strong>Beeep<strong> RING RING RING!

_"God have mercy upon the one who dares to call me at... 4am? Did I do something to piss of the higher ups this time? Better see whose soul shall I harvest tonight." _I went to grab my cellphone and narrowed my eyes at the blinding light the cellphone was emanating, _"My girlfriend? The hell she wants this early? I think it would be wise to sound disorientated, who knows what'll she think if I sound too sober this early." _I shook my head to get the dizziness off. "Who? Wha? Hello?"

"Hun' it's me Heidi, you awake?" My girlfriend said and I could hear a that she sounded, distraughted with some amount of relief.

Fu** this, I don't have to justify my actions.

"As a matter of fact no. I'm currently sky diving with elves and other mythtical beasts." I hate being woke up this early and since I already have problems with sleeping as it is. I usually want to smack the first person that I see the second I wake up from my sweet dream. No joke.

"Stop fooling around! We need to talk... like now." She said harshly.

_"This can't be good." I _stood up from my bed and tried to remembered that todays wednesday.

"I'm all ears, babe."

"This isn't working. I think we should take a break, you know. Meet new people and stuff. I'm sorry if this is too sudden and I have to do this on phone. But please understand that you're the nicest guy i've ever met, but I don't see this working out. I'm sure you understand this. You always do. I hope we can stay as friends. Crap, gotta go. See ya and sorry."

*Click* BEEP BEEP BEEP

_"Well, I knew this would happen sooner or later. Being a nice guy doesn't work nowadays and when it works, this happens."_ I thought to myself as I got of the bed and went to feed my gekko in my room that I call, Mobile. Yes, its a funny name that I came up with, but I kinda liked it. Shaking my head a bit, I began to slowly stretch.

_"Did she just, break up with me or like that? After 3 months? I first thought we had a thing that women usually like?"_ Cracking my neck I went to my cell phone._ "What's the time now? 4:04am? Man, she really does talk fast and what's the deal calling me this time around? I bet these kind of things never happen in anime. Well those I like I guess. I _thought mumbled in my head when a sudden realization hit me. "_AND NOW I CAN'T SLEEP! Damn these chronic insomnias. I swear, next time I see someone making fun of me, i'm going on a rampage."_

Seriously, school is tearing my head apart, these so called friends of mine drive me nuts with their constant... boredom and you can't even trust them these days, I have a part time job as a junior coach to some toddlers, which suprisingly, calms somewhat. Perhaps its cause' I like kids. So, oblivious and peaceful that it's just makes me want to giggle. Or it is that I have younger siblings of my own. A little brother and sister.

Better go clean up. I think i'll look like shit in front of the mirror.

"Hello, early worm... whatcha doin' this early?" A voice came behind me after I took my white t-shirt and black shorts.

The new voice was my stepsister. Karen. Few years older than me, which means that most of my "friends" thinks were some kind of hook-ups. After correcting them they, of course, they started pestering me about it. She's a pretty young woman. Soft brown hair, caring blue eyes. She and I are pretty close for in-laws. We both open up to each other and insult each others like your old married couple you see on the street.

"Nuttin', just cleaning up the sink" That's how we say for using the sink, like shaving, make-upping and don't do that these days.

"What is it? There's something wrong with you isn't it, c'mon tell meeeh." Leave it to her to know if i'm grumpy or slightly emo. I wonder how many have atleast a decent relationship with their siblings in-law? Close to none I guess.

*sigh* "My gir...*cough*.. Ex and I broke up just few minutes ago. Said she's tired and wants a break or sumthin'."

*gasp* "You poor thing, when did it happen."

"Bout' 10 minutes ago I guess. Seems like I have more time now." And just in time for the new game release.

"Don't worry, i'm sure you'll find someone, somewhere, sometime... I hope."

"Thanks for the word of confidence." I deadpanned. Women and their lack of faith. Seriously.

She huffed and blew a rapsberry. Cute. "So, you gon' be alright big guy?" Atleast she cares to some degree.

"Yeah, I think I lost my intrest in women for a while, don't worry, I won't seek out men. I'm sure you'd love that." I said to her to lift up the mood.

She rewarded me with a soft giggle and a hug. "You do know you can talk to me, Ezek."

I hugged back. "Yeah, I know."

She gave me a soft peck on the cheek and said: "I have to go now, early shifts and sick people to tend." Oh yeah, she work as a nurse in our towns local hospital. Her dreams is to be an actor and she has my full support on it and she just got a rehersal in the neighbourhodd city.

"Sure, tell Mrs. B I said hi!." The old lady who used to babysit me and her back in the diaper days. I loved the cookies as they were usually extremely crispy.

There was a brief sound of 'I will' and a door shut. Well I have plenty of hours to waste. Might as well get ready for school since I have nothing else to do here.

After taking care of my personal hygiene I started walkin towards my closet. Taking out the new pair of undies reminded me of my ex of now... 15 minutes? Putting them on, I took my olive green cargo pants with many pockets at the thigs and bottom. Theres also a zipper just above the knees, so you can turn it into a crafty shorts for this kind of weather. My newly acquired white long-sleeved Ed Hardy's with red, electric blue and more white outlines in the middle. Black sleeveless hoodie with a demonic grin and the back. New black/white weighted sneakers and wristbans with weights from my Sensei in martial arts. The shoes being 30lbs and the wrists 15lbs. _"Damn slave driver"_, well the results are pretty awesome... nice muscles and all. I even got some compliments that I modestly shot down, too much attention is not my thing.

Decorate it all with my late lovabels grandmas diamond necklase. Rest in peace where ever you are, GramGram.

She even suggested that if I have money problems that i'll sell it. Not a second too late I shouted that i'll never do that, that i'll protect it with my life. But... after she gave me it, she passed away the next day.

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><p>"Nothing beats a good break-up breakfast than instant pizza. Truly the food of gods." After stuffing myself with the flatted cuisine I started loading my favorite anime. One Piece. "<em>Wonder what would it been like having adventures with the strawhats. I bet it would be great! Wish they'd added me for twists."<em>

"Now that thats loading here, i'll check if I have everything ready for school." Okay, Gym class first, so that means extra undies, socks, shorts, shirts, towel, first-aid kit (better safe than sorry). Second is art which is my favorite class session where I just draw peoples, landscapes, and all that. If I must say so myself, i'm a pretty good artist when it comes to drawing details.

Enough of that. What else do I need. Oh yeah, my Iphone, custom made hitai-ate with slashed Kumo symbol for good luck. Not that I neet it. Swiss army knife and a zippo, never go out without em'. I briegly turned with my stuffed backpack to see how's the loading and wondered how did that Naruto tab also got along there? Don't get me wrong I actually hate the show, I just like Jutsus and the evil characters there like Madara, Akatsuki, badass missing ninjas. I even have a notes on my favorite jutsus, traning methonds which I call it my Shinobi Guide for Awesomeness. If I were a ninja from Naruto I would be from Kumo whose joint with Akatsuki and just kicked ass all day long.

Now back my problem here, yes, MY problem. I didn't ask for a random Naruto episode here to be downloaded and why do I feel weird. Like theres something running through me. Maybe it's just the pizza, god knows how old it is.

So as I closed the tab and looked at the my downloaded One Piece episode and started to push the play button there was this tugging sensation in my body. "Man here comes the pizza." But something entirely different comes. A very disturbing looking vortex appears in my screen that started to suck me in. "What the F...!" I was sucked into the portal? Just like that? And the weird feeling just kept increasing till I felt dizzy. Everything started to swirl till I went unconsious. Never noticising that one of my rare wishes has been fulfilled.

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><p>[One Piece Universe, Somewhere in East Blue.]<p>

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><p>A eight year old girl was running around with her mother. Though she wasn't too far away from her mother, she still kept going a bit further. Turning her head to the left she spotted a beautiful butterfly just taking flight to the sky. It had a nice outlining too. Black, with red, white and a dark sky blue outlines. She kept her gaze firmly to the butterfly, till the sun momentaryly blinded her and lost the butterfly to the sky. Sguinting her eyes she saw something fly towards the ground which look exactly like the butterfly she lost. Turning her head back to her mother she shouted: "Mommy there's a butterfly falling! We must save it!"<p>

Her mother releasing a small chuckle at her daughters antics just went by. "Sure honey, where did it go?"

"This way Mommy!"

The little girl smiled widely and started her self-proclamed mission of saving the beautiful butterfly. That's until she heard something that wasn't supposed to sound like a butterfly. Come to thing of it, do butterflies even make noises?

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><p>"Never again." I started saying to myself, sounding suprisingly more younger. But shot it down to the old pizza residing in me. "<em>God, HOW OLD WAS THAT PIZZA!"<em> Why do I see the blue sky, since my last memory was me feeling weird in front of my computer. Guess it's one of those weird amnesias where I actually left the house, but I don't actually remember that part.

Wait a minute, the weird feeling actually feels... relaxing? Calm? Like i'm part of the nature. What was in that piz-

"This way Mommy!."

_"What was that? Probably some kid lost. And how did I end up in a crater? I swear never again!"_

Pulling my food poisoned ass up from the crater I looked around and spotted a...small girl, like no older that nine? Ten?.

She had a long blonde hair that went past her shoulders, grass green eyes with freckels. Made her look cute and all. As I stood in my full hight I took a look at my surrounding. I've never been in this part of the town. Looks peaceful, I should visit this place more often. There was a sudden movement in the corner of my eye. A furry orange something. Maybe some weird squirrel that the kid was looking for.

I looked down at the girl who was looking at me with wide beaming smile. Well aint't that cute. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed my backpack. At least my stuff wont't break-up with me any time soon. Walking over to my bag of leather garments holding my necessities, I saw an elderly version of the cute girl with long sky blue dress reaching her knees with white outdoor sandals. She first looked at me weirdly until the small girl started to shout.

"Mommy, it's him! It's the butterflyman! Look! Do you see him!" Energetic aren't we?

"The butterwhatman?." I started to look around fearing that i've been kidnapped by sircus clowns. I always thought my self as a fearless man with a sense of justice and equality, but clowns, priests, and transvestites just freak the hell out of me. If they come near I might 'accidentally' kill em'.

*Giggles* "No silly, it's you!." I let out an pout come over my face making her giggle more. She ran over to me and hugged me. Making me all funny and warm inside. "Mommy can we keep him?" Okey... that's weird now isn't it?

"Of course not." The older woman scolded her child. "He's not a butterfly, but a young man so it's not possible for him to be a pet for you to keep." The elder woman scolded the kid.

"But Mommy!." A look from the older woman told that she has made her point and started studying me. Probably seeing if i'm a threat to her daughter. Not that I blame her, seeing she has every right to it. Strangers are not to be trusted, that's my motto.

So, to diffuse this tension I started to introduce myself with a small bow "Good evening, my name is Ezekiel Vane. I'm kinda lost here so I took a little nap, until I heard someone yelling nearby. Looks like it was just this small cute bundel of happiness." Here I gave her a disarming gentle smile which made her smile too.

"We're sorry to disturb you. My name is Lisa and she's..." But was cut of by a loud 'Lisanna!'. "...Lisanna that is. If you don't mind me asking, are you lost?."

"Yes ma'am, i'm pretty confused about my where-abouts." I scratched my head.

"Well, we were going back to our village by now, it's starting to get late..." Here she was cut yet again. Though I was a bit startled by what she said... village? Luckily I held my composure as not to look out-of-place as I already am.

"Mommy can the butterflyman join us for dinner?"

"Lisanna, he's name is Ezekiel and yes he can join us, that is if it's fine with him." They both looked at me.

And right on cue where my stomach started to grumble making the girl into another fits of giggles and me blushing in embarrasment giving and odd coloring in my already dark skin.

"I don't want to be a bother ma'am..."

"Nonsense! I own a restaraunt here, so it won't be a bother to feed an extra tummy."

"Yay! Come on! Mommys food are the best!." Here she took my hand and dragged me to her mother. I also took a look what she was wearing. A pale green dress with a white ribbon on her waist decorated with yellow sun flowers on the bottom of the nice summer dress.

On the way back to the 'village?' I thought to myself: _"Where am i? Surely I couldn't be transferred __to another country without me knowing?"_ So just to be sure I asked Lisa a question, where I unconsiously tensed myself for the answer.

"Uhm, ma'am."

"Lisa."

"Pardon me?."

"You can call me Lisa, you don't have to adress me like that, thank you very much." Wow, she said all this without breaking that smile of hers.

"Where are..." As I felt a light tug in my pants, I looked down and was greeted by the ever happy sight of Lisanna smiling. "What is it, Lisanna-chan?"

"Can I sit in your shoulders? You look strong and i'm tired." Again those wide green eyes that held a lot of energy... which made me doubt about her being tired. But, not one to let children down, I gently picked her and put her in my shoulders, holding her legs at the same time to assure her that I won't let her fall.

Here I adjusted my backpack a bit to make myself comfortable, for the possible long road that I guessed.

"Uwah! Sugooi! You're so strong." Chuckling to myself in amusement I remembered the question I was about to ask.

"Lisa-san, where are we? I mean what country and all."

She looked at me a bit weirdly, but answered nonetheless. "Were here in one of the islands in East Blue called Lisnor Island. It's a few days journey from Gecko Island."

"…"

I just blanked out. I was extremely confused now. What she said now can't be happening, can it? I'm actually IN the world of One Piece?, Like THE most adventurous manga/anime in like forever? Not sure what to think I just stared the road ahead. What would grandma do? Well she would say more bible, less these devils in colours. Really she can be so funny at times... I miss her. I didn't even noticed that I sighed.

"Are you alright Nii-chan?." That woke me up from my temporary sadness. Acknowledging her and also taking note of the suffix made me smile. Atleast better than the butterflyman.

"Peachy, just peachy. Just thought about someone."

Lisanna, being the ever curious child like the rest of em' asked: "Who?" And me just realising that I can't talk about granny whilst in a manga/anime? Desided that it would be better if I made an new identity... for now.

"My late Master." We'll I wasn't really lying, seeing that I do miss my old late Sensei/Master too. Though if he somehow finds out me being all mushy about him, it won't end well.

"You had a Master?" Now it was Lisa's turn to ask. "In what?" Well it is a perfectly normal question. And is it me, or has my weights increased?

"Martial arts, you know, self defence and other useful knick knacs."

"Oh." Came the insecure answer. Perhaps she didn't know what to make of it? We continued talking more rest of the way, mostly about the village. It's seems that the village is mostly a trade point where people come here to stock up, rest and leave. She also said that though they haven't seen any hostile pirates doesn't mean that there never will. I just nodded at that and thought if Luffy and the others came by here? Nah, wait!... what day is it?

"Ne, Lisa-san. What day is it today? Seems that I lost track of time." I laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of my head, wondering how did I pick that up in the first place?

"Sure, it's May ninth, Ezekiel-kun" She said with a sincere smile, making me almost blush. So, it'll be a little less than a year before Luffy starts his journey and another 2 weeks before they take the route to baratie? Guess i'll just train until then.

"Nii-chan, we're here!." Oh, I kinda forgot about her being in my shoulder. The girl weights like a feather.

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><p>[20 minutes lates, Near Lisnor Harbour]<p>

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><p>"Gotta say, you have a nice location for your restaraunt. And it looks great to boot."<p>

"Why thank you Ezek-kun." She now uses my shorter version of my name, given courtesy by yours truly. I usually give it to people I like, or if I somehow aprove them saying. "Let's go inside. I'm sure your femished." As if in cue my stomach grumble, startling those nearby. It must've looked funny... me blushing with a grumbling stomach and a small girl on my shoulders.

We stepped inside the homely restaraunt and my nostrils we're assaulted by the warm atmosphere in the air. "_Grannnnyyyyy... NO!... must... not... think!"_

"Sit here, i'll get you something nice." And with that she run back to the kitchen.

Putting the pouting girl down and massasing my shoulder a bit I looked around. It's like being in one of those anime related cottages, though a lot bigger, homely and warm. But the thing that was out of place was the amouth of costumers. There wasn't any, which made me frown. Lisa here is offering me food and i'm just slouching. That's not acceptable. I can see she has a lot in her hands... maybe I could?

"Nii-chan, do you like this place?" I saw a bit of hesitation in those usually happy green eyes, maybe she's afraid? If i'm guessing right, i'm afraid that their small business doesn't get much business around here. It made me feel bad about myself, but I promise myself that i'll do everything in my power to help them out.

"Like it? I love it! Feels right, warm and fuzzy." I looked down and saw her eyes wide open, kinda what you see in kids in Chrismas... Grandma used to call it you'll-get-chocolate-chip-cookies-in-a-minute look. Adorable as always.

"You really mean it?" Nodding with a smile and ruffling her hair affectionaly she glomped on my leg and started to cry. I got down on her eye-level and asked if she was okay, but I got my answer with a giggle and a teary eye. Wiping them away she started to explain that they don't get much customers and that they're not doing great here. Not frowning in front of the child I gave her a reassuring and the most warmly smile I could muster.

"Don't worry, it's going to be alright. How about this? I'll stay here with you and help out bringing more customers. I have a few ideas to increase your menu too. How does that sound?."

There was a brief silence before a loud and happy chirp of 'Hai!' and a hug later I gently picked her up sat her in one of the bar stools and me sitting next to her. Ignoring the freely surging weird feeling that's coursing through me and the blotch of orange in the corner of my eye. I though the pizza has already been burned... weird right?

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><p>After the late time grubs been finished I offered my assistance to Lisa. Needless to say she was extremely happy. Infact so happy that she gave me a empty room upstairs in the newly named Cloud Restaraunt with the Kumogakure symbol. Lisanna took a instant liking to it.<p>

"Here's your room and bless you for offering us your assistance." She bowed to me.

"Think nothing of it. So, the new renovation begins tommorow." After her nodding I continued that i'll start picking up the materials, so she doesn't have to worry about those. "It's settled, now i'll bid you a very good dreams. Night." And closed to door. I could feel her still standing in the door. Maybe she's contemptlating something? Hard to say.

Now what the hell is this weird feeling running in me? God feels like the pizza invaded my blood circulaton system. Wonder how it'll taste?

_"Okey, Master said that meditating is the best way to get to know your body. We'll i'll start with that. And sides, because of my chronic insomnia, I don't have to worry about sleep... for now."_

Looking around the room, I took notice of the 4-walls with floor and ceiling. Yup, it's just one of your average room you'll see in many animes lately. The bed is near the window with the curtains open that gives you a nice view of the moon and the wide ocean. I have now a year to make myself useful to my future nakamas.

"Yosh! Time for a meditation." Gently putting my self in a lotus-position in the hardwood floor I tried to take a hold of this weird energy in me. Why does it look so familiar? The color being light blue with green outlines. It was kinda cool. It also feels like i'm safe, like I can do anything. Smiling a bit with my eyes closed I pictured myself making a jutsu.

Why? Because I do that when i'm nerveousand bored as hell in a empty room. How i'm going to help the mother and daughter pair with no money? I don't like disappointing anyone, least them of all people. Smiling to me, didn't avoid me like the plague and just talking to me. Come to think of it this has been the longest conversation I had in what, 4 to 5 years outside my family? Boy, i'm I deranged or what *chuckels*. So I started to do an average seal for a Kage Bunshin, because... well? I like them, solid clones, with all the memory stuff. And another way to freak out people, which happens to be my favorite pass-time.

Moulding the Blue/Green miasma I gently mouthed: "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow clones)."

*Poof*

Opening my eyes I was greeted by an exact replica of yours truly. With the backpack and all. Grinning like a madman and my replica returning it asked me: "Your orders, Oyabun? (Boss)"

Wow, about time someone shows me respect, though in this situation i'm respecting myself? Well, more food for my ego.

"How much do you think I can make you guys?" I asked the clone, since I had no idea, I thought that since I created it, it know the amount of Chakra I have while I was visibli shaking with exitement.

"I guess 11 more sounds good, but summon 8 more here. Don't want you to pass out on me." And there's the witty comment. I thought I made something wrong here first, but didn't.

Looking briefly at the window, back to my clone, then to my backpack. I realized something and my grin grew wider. Looking through my backpacks I found my Shinobi Guide for Awesomeness. Looking through the first pages I found the Chakra control exercises: Tree-walking. "_Seems like a start."_ Summoning the 8 clones all looking at me expectantly I gave them orders.

"I want you guys to start the tree-walking exercise once you see a progress, dispel yourselves every 10 minutes. Ready?"

"Hai!." And they all stepped out of the window to the nearest forest.

"Let's see, the Academic jutsus: Kawarimi (Substitution), Regular Bunshin (Clone) and Henge (Transfromation). Gotta start somewhere."

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><p>"Yosh! Gotta love the <span>Kage Bunshins<span>, tree-walking and Kawarimis almost done, Henges and Bunshins Effing DONE!" Halfway through my morning exercise I was practically tired, but nothing a morning coffee can't handle. After the Academic level of jutsus, i'll start with some Elemental to the mix. Hopefully I have some badass moves in my Guidebook with their Affinities.

"It is done! Yosh! My flames of youth burn brighly today!" I can't help it, first i'm in my favorite anime serie WITH the awesome abilities from yet another anime that I hate. I feel like a kid again. With all these in mind I went for a quick shower to get rid of the sweat.

_"Time to get to work!"_ I took my backpack and retrieved my white t-shirt and took the lower part off my cargos. Sneakers off, and sandals Lisa found for me. "_Man, i'm psycht!"_

Running to downstairs I noticed Lisanna gone and remembered that she had school. Lisa also said that she's booksmarts. Sweet AND smart. Cuteness factor has just gone up. Maybe I can help her with those too in her freetime.

Lisa noticing my presence gave me a smile and went back to cleaning the restaraunt. I frowned a bit at that, since it was supposed to be my job.

"Lisa-san, I thought we agreed that i'll do the dirty jobs." I gave her a sweet smile making her relax. "Relax, let me do the rest, it should be done in records time, I guarantee it. Why don't you take a bath, I already fixed everything for you upstairs."

"Thank you, Ezek-kun." With that she went upstairs, probably the shower I suggested.

When I heard the door to the bathroom up stairs shut, I immediately summoned 11 clones at ones. Seems like the exercise helped a bit. Seeing as I didn't feel as much draining as yesterday.

"All right guys, I want 6 of you to clean this place sparkling clean, I want this place to sparkle more than Edward Cullen sunbathing in speedos!" The clones looked at me with a huge sweatdrops on the back of their heads. "The other half will use Henge to transfrom yourselves to ordinary civilians and try to get some money, by doing some labours. Avoid getting hit though, are we clear?"

There was a chorus of "Hai, Hai Oyabun!" and they were off to do their assigment.

"Now to continue my training."

* * *

><p>"Done and Done! And the clones I sent half-an-hour ago came back with a asswhoopin 13500 berries. Not bad. Couple more times and days and this will look so good even Gordon Ramsay cries in joy." I said to myself aloud when the clones that helped me vanished in a column of smoke.<p>

Hearing something coming I turned to see Lisa in her usual attire looking amazed at her restaraunt. At that moment I felt proud in myself, not only did I made a good deed, but I made a good deed to a good person. Surely it means something, like double karma?

"How'd you like dem apples?" I asked her, and snapping her out of her daze. She looked around how organized and clean it looked. Then she looked at me with a grateful smile and walked over to me and clapped her hands.

"It looks amazing, and in half-an hour?.'

"You guessed it, Boss Lady." She looked at me with half-lidded eyes and I knew that I kinda screwed up here. "Hehe... Sorry, Lisa-san." The nervous laughter seemed to put her in ease, until she started to laugh. I started to pout like a certain bubbly green eyed girl. Though it just brought her in another fit of laughing at my expence. About a minute later she calmed down and gave me a tight hug. At that moment I was confused as hell. First she seemed angry, then she started to laugh and hugged me. Momentaryly conflicting with myself I returned the hug. It felt nice, weird as hell, but nice nonetheless. Chalk it up to some weird chick thing.

She looked at me and said: "Ezek-kun would you mind bringing Lisanna-chan here about couple of hours later? I have to run some affairs, I won't be long gone. If she's hungry help yourselves in the kitchen. Gotta go, i'll see you later." And with that she was gone with a wave.

"I swear i'll never understand women." Came a voice behind me.

"You said it, bub." It took me awhile, till I realized that wasn't my clone. Turning around I was greeted by the color... orange, with a tail?

"Yeah baby!. Orange Lightning in the house!."

"…" The hell... There was a Orange mix of an Otter and a Weasel with goggles wearing a huge grin.

"What? You haven't seen an ottsel before?" And it talks? But why does he look familiar?

"As a matter of fact no, I haven't. Tell me, your names Daxter right?" Oh yeah, the coward little sidekick from Jak & Daxter. Who doesn't know him? Funny as hell and could rival Usopp in the cowardness, bt if the situation calls for it, he could be really helpfull. Outside of that, the thing has a big mouth.

"Ah, my reputation precedes me. I'm honored Mr..." Seems like he want's my name, but what does he do in a anime like this? It's not right. Come to think of it, nothings right here anymore.

*couch* Oh, forgot about him. "Vane, Ezekiel Vane."

"Well fancy-face, I saw you falling from the sky like me and I thought we should help each other out here. Though I can't remember much here and i'm pretty much lost here. Seeing that we're both somewhere unknown." Though I frowned for the nickname; should I take the coward side-kick with me or just leave it. It would be wrong to leave him, i'm sure some scientist here would love to dissect him.

"Fine, on one condition." Seeing as I had his attention I continued. "No talking about me AND no talking in front of the folks here, last they need is a outerdimensional orange... thing." He looked like he was thinking. Or I thought he was.

"You got yourself a deal tall, dark and handsome." And with that he hopped to my shoulder like in the game an all. It felt weird.

"I'll go training for couple of hours before I have to fetch someone here. Wanna stick around until then?" I asked him as he wrapped his tail around my neck.

"Sure let's roll." Closing the restaraunt, me and Daxter started talking about this world and that i'll go join a pirate crew that's supposed to be the main character around here.

I got weird looks form the villagers here, obviously a black guy with an orange ottsel doesn't work around here, but who cares, its not like i'll start living here.

Briefly checking if I had my Guidebook I took it out and looked the Fuuinjutsu page: Storage sealing. Probably the only fuuinjutsu i'll need here.

Entering a local art store I bought myself an ink and a scroll. All the while ingroning the looks the lady behind the desk gave me and Daxter wasn't really a help in here, seeing he was giving her a winks and smootches.

* * *

><p>The walk to the forest was eventful. I talked with Daxter about my abilities, which startled the fuzzball, but took it fast saying "To each his own." Whatever that meant. Looking to my Guidebook for the Fuuinjutsu section I summoned a pair of clones to improve my calligraphy and to see if they see an improvement in it.<p>

Checking the book again to the Katon (Fire Release) section: Katon: Endan (Fire Release: Flame Bullet), Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu ) and Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu).

"Yosh, let's start the party!" I shouted.

* * *

><p>"Well that took a lot of me." A memory came to me that the clones resposinble for the Fuuinjutsu are ready, that was fast. Though the scroll can't hold much its still a start.<p>

"Me and Ez's gon' rule this world. Think about it partner, your stuff with my brain will be rich." Subtle as always. The orange ottsel is a cool guy ones you get to know him.

"In your dreams, c'mon, we'll have to fetch someone."

* * *

><p>"Gotta love tree-hopping. Gives you a primitive feeling, right?" I asked the sick ottsel, seems like I went too fast for him.<p>

"Talk about stuck with a monkey." A look from me reminded him of our deal, which thankfully made him shut up.

"Now where is..." Here I was cut out by a loud yelling.

"Nii-chan! Over here!." There she is, running to me and glomped me in the leg. I ruffled her hair which made her pout, until she saw what's in my shoulder. "Uwah! Is that a squirrel! She's Huge!." That made me chuckles and Daxter depressed as being mistook as a squirrel.

"No, it's an ottsel, a mix of an otter and a weasel. HE'S name is Daxter, a partner of mine if you will." I don't know if she's even listening to me.

"Can I pet it? Please?" Me, being me of course said yes, you can't say that a kid can't pet an animal or whatever Daxter is.

"Sure, be careful, he doesn't like being strangled." Didn't know if that's true, but seeing Daxter sigh of relief it was. Positing Daxter on the ground she scratched him behind the ears, making him grin. That's a sign that they'll get along.

Walking back to the house I spotted some bandits near a shop making ruckus.

"Gives us your money old man." That made me scowl, no-one picks on someone while i'm around.

"Please, i.. I don't have any, the shops is the only thing I have." The old man pleaded.

"You heard im' guys. Empty the shop." That was the last straw. Putting Lisanna down with Daxter on her arms I gave him a look that said: 'Look after her i'll take care of these'. I made my way to the bandits and saw that they were your average bandits, ragged cloth with nothing but muscles. 4 Bandits with no leader. I decided that i'll make self known to them.

"Oi, ya filhty bastards, leave the old man alone!." I shouted, they looked at me from head to toe and laughed. They really shouldn't underestimate me. If there's one thing I hate, it's being looked down.

"Ya hear'm the pipsquiek trying to act brave. You two, show him how's it done here." As the two grinning bandits made their way to me I took a steady defencive stance with my knees bent and right hand behind my back. When they aproached me I looked fiercly at them noticing how slow they were.

As one made a punch at me redirected it behind me so that he lost his footing and landed face first in to the ground. There were a lot of people watching from the sidelines and none of them made a effort to help. _"Cowards."_ Noticing the other running at me with a knife I readied myself. Just when he was about to make a stabbing motion to my chest I grabbed his arm and broke it with my knees. While he was crying in pain I gave him an Chakra enhanced punched to his nose. Blood came from it and he started to cry. His partner looked at me with hate and made a mad dash at me. His friends from the sidelines also started to run at me from all direction.

Quickly making the necessary hand seals for a basic Kawarimi. Finishing the seal the one with large arms made a bear hug at me and started to squeeze. Only for me to turn into a nearby rolled carpet. Noticing their shocked faces I threw a devastating punch at the to the one holding the capret. Succesfully breaking his jaw with a crunch.

Resuming my stance the other to bandit tried again to double tag me. Only for me to dodge them and sweep their legs with my hands. Looking around I notices the people here looking me at awe. It felt funny yeah, but I had no time for that seeing as bad-breaths lunged at me only to stop. I noticed a shadow behind me and rolled out of the way to see a large fist that made a small dent to the ground. Taking a look at him I saw the most hairiest man ever. With white loose pants and brown shoes. He looked at me with intrest. Which made me nerveous, had I been in a jail I wouldn't want him to be my bunk partner.

"So your the kid that's been making all this commotion." That wasn't a question, but a statement. Keeping my mouth shut I continues studing him. What the man lacks in speed and hygiene, obviously makes up for strenght and the ability to disorient his opponents. He looked in my eyes and raised and eye-brow. "That's intresting eyes you have." The hell...

"Whacha talkin' bout, bad breath?."

"Your eyes, their red with a weird comma like things." Could it be?

"I don't know what your talking about." I glared at him.

"Have it your way. Look, kid. How bout' you join me? You seem like a pretty decent fighter, think about it we could have this village to play to our tune. What do you say?" Is he serious?

"Hmm..." This action made the villagers uneasy, probably afraid that there'll be another bandit to torment them. "Join a bunch of hairy sweaty men with an unnatural amount of ego or not... The last option sounds tempting, so i'll go with that." There was a small snicker from the crowd around us which made the Bearman frown.

"Have it your way then." With that he and he's lackeys attacked me.

"Man, I don't want to touch you." Good thing I have a lot of space to dodge these guys.

One of the bandits throw a sloppy fist at me which I caught it with my hand. The look of horror didn't go unnoticed by my as I grabbed his head and rammed it into a wall. With that the guy went out like a light. The other bandit couldn't take it and ran away.

"I guess that's one of your rookies." I asked him a rethorical question. The Bearman looked at me with contempt and ran at me throwing a barrage of punched which were succesfully dodged. The man started to get irratated until I punched him in the stomach. He fell on his knees taking breath, but that was enough for me to jump and axe-kick him in the back of the head. Rendering him unconsious as his head connected to the ground "God, I need to wash my hands." Then there was a loud cheer and clapping around. I was wondering what was happening until the old man brought me a bucket of water.

"Thank you very much, my boy. Those bandits have been harrassing us for months now. We're in your debt." Another good deed done, i'm on a roll. Washing away the filth and hearing compliments made me feel good about myself once more.

"Nii-chan you were so cool!." There she was and just like a lightning bolt of green and orange runned and hugged me. "You were fast, strong, cool and you know magic tricks!" Magic? Shit, the Kawarimi no Jutsu. Well on the other hand, it worked. The Ninjutsu training helped.

Picking her up and placing her and Daxter, who suprisingly was quiet on my shoulder.

"Tell me, my boy. Is there somehow I can repay you?." The old man sincerely asked.

"There's no need.."

"I insist."

"Well, there's a new restaraunt in the harbour. I would appreciate if you'll send a word around here."

"Consider it done, sonny."

"Please, call me Ezekiel. I should be going now. The restaraunt will be opened tommorow noon. Take care." With that we were out.

"Ne, Nii-chan. How did you do that magic trick?."

"Himitsu (Secret)." Pouting she made herself comfortable in my shoulder while petting Daxter.

* * *

><p>"We're back!" the shout from Lisanna rung around the restaraunt. Setting her down, she made a dash to kitchen to find her mom.<p>

"Ain't she cute, but I ain't no-ones pet, _comprende?_" Daxter told me with a stern glare.

"Shut yer trap will ya, when we're out you can talk as much as you like, but our deal still stands."

"Fiiiine, so what now?"

"Fix the place n' stuff."

Lisa came from the kitchen with her daughter in hand shouting and waving her hand in the air.

"...and then he jumped this high and when he came down the Bad Bearman went to sleep." I couldn't help it and started to laugh. If we were back in my world she'd make an excellent comedian.

"Didn't know you were a fighter."

"Well, see, i've been fighting since I was 6 years-old. You'll get a lot of experience."

"Yeah and Nii-chan was telling people to come to our restaraunt. I heard people saying that they'll visit."

"Is that so?" Lisa asked with a smile.

"Hai Lisa-san, i'll make a quick adjustments and there will be a lot of customers." I started to stretch. The small fight strained my muscle a bit.

There was a small 'thank you.', where I just smiled. "I'm sure your hungry, do you want something to eat?'

"No need to, me, Daxter and Lisanna-chan grabbed something on our way here."

Now that I mentioned my new companion, she looked at the ottsel. Well stared would be a more detailed until Daxter gave her a grin and a wink.

She seemed to shrug it of quickly. "He can stay, but he has to be upstairs when were having customers."

"Affirmative, Lisa-san." With that I escorted Lisanna to her room.

"Now if you need help with the homeworks, be sure to ask."

"Hai Nii-chan!" I ruffled her head and went to my room.

* * *

><p>"When were you gonna tell me that you can do these stuff?"<p>

"Uhm... since I landed here?"

"Those are cool man, can you teach me some?" He asked as he jumped on my bed.

I aswered with a shrug "Dunno, seeing as animals only have enough Chakra to support their lifesystem and you ain't any different."

"Hey, i'm a human! I was...!"

"Fell in a something weird black pool and turned into... whatever you are, I know Dax."

"What was that eye thing the Wookie asked?" Daxter questioned.

I walked to the mirror and looked into my eyes. Addding Chakra to it there was a new coloring. Instead of dark brown eyes, there was a red eye with a single tomoe that was slowly spinning on my iris.

"…"

"…"

"What now?" The ottsel asked me once more as I looked through the window, completely focusing on the ocean with my Sharingan eye.

"We'll wait."

* * *

><p><strong>[To Be Continued]<strong>

* * *

><p>I've been meaning to correct my spelling errors and grammars so don't expect that after few chapters, you'll be seeing a lot of them.<p>

**Fixed: 20.5.2012**

* * *

><p>Next chapter there will be a major time skip(s) and a interraction with a future member of the strawhats. There won't be any Suiton (Water release) and Doton (Earth Release) until much, much later. This won't be a God-Like fic, there will be formidable foes, like some Rokushiki users and weirder devil fruit abilities, but currently Ezekiel is the only one who will use Ninjutsu here, for now... there might be more of those.<p>

My story is the one where an ordinary guy has something extraordinary happen to him. Maybe it was supposed to happen. Maybe it was my destiny or my karma or whatever. I know one thing for sure... nothing's ever going to be the same again.


	2. Of Thieves, Marines and Bounty hunters

**Chapter 2: Of Thieves, Marines and Bounty hunters.**

**Note: while the Oc seem like a over-powered freak of nature, he has a illness that limits his capabilities. Hint: sleep deficit.  
><strong>

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

* * *

><p>"Three familysized salami pizza's coming right up!" You guessed, the restaraunt sells the very food of the Gods themselves and many more. Lisa was suspicious at first by my idea, but shot it down the instant the customers said they love it. Seems my little episode with the bandit gave me a reputation around here. They even gave me the name: <span>The Dark Magician<span>, fitting, seeing that my part time job is performing magic. Showing of few ninjutsus like Katon and newly learned Fuuton (Wind release) to make things levitate. The villagers seemed to like it.

"Oyabun, are the special pizza's done?" That was my clone transformed into a waitresses. Suprisingly it didn't resist, which made me worried about it... bah, who cares! Back to work. If I have time to think, I have time to work.

"Hai, Karen, there's a name tag on it for our special customer." Yep, my stepsister. Though I do miss her very much, I'm sure that's if there's a chance for me to return it will be in it's time as I'm having the time of my life. And I'm sure she won't mind if I somehow used her... hopefully.

Standing peacefully in the desk to take orders, clones working in the back and the mother and daughter pair upstairs helping the latter with her homeworks.

It has been now 6 months since the bandit accident, 4 more months till Luffy leaves Gecko Island. In the past months I have learned alot from my guidebook, including few Raiton (Lightning release) to a small degree. Currently I can summon up to 17 Kage Bunshins (Shadow clones). My reserves unow should be around low-Jonin by now, which is pretty awesome since my physical spirit is huge. Pretty good without a teacher to help me around here. Water-walking is going absolutely great, seeing as I can already walk up over 3 hours.

I do have to be careful with it though, if I spend all the good stuff I'll be sick... or dead.

Enough of that, since today I got an intresting customer and it's none other than, Nami herself. If I'm guessing right, she's here to rob someone. As long as she doesn't rob those with little to no less money, I'm surprisingly cool with that.

Currently I was wearing my black shorts with sandals today, topped with a sky blue shirt and brown outlines. I even had my necklace grandma gave me and my slashed kumo Hitai-ate on my left bicep. Nami, though was wearing her usual attire with the stripped blue/white shirt and mini-skirt.

Smiling widely I welcomed her, "Welcome to Cloud Restaraunt, food and beverage from the corners of the heaven." The brief look in my necklace didn't go unnoticed by me. So that's what she wants... we'll she IS Nami, so that's slightly understandable, but I'd rather kill someone in cold blood than to give it up.

"I'm not ordering anything, I'm looking for someone." Looking behind her to see if there are any customers to serve that won't bother us. Last time it happened was a disaster. _"Nope, it's too early for the usual rush-hour."_

"What is it?"

"I'm looking for someone who goes here by the name of The Dark Magician. I've been told I can find him here."

"Your looking at him." She seemed to perk up at my sudden proclamation. Our future navigator looked at me from head to toe and was thinking of something.

"I heard you do some hard-work labour around here for a small price." She said.

_"Oh yeah, I also do those too. I kinda regret that I swear women will not hesitate to use you if you show even the slightest hint of politeness." _"That's me alright, what can I help you with?" I even remember one suggesting me to escort her to bed. Damn cougars.

"My ship is damaged from the yesterdays storm and since there's no shipwrights around here you seem to be the closest one here."

"Sure, let me just fetch someone to replace me." Walking back to the kitchen where there were the 5 transformed clones slouching. A tik mark graced my forehead seeing them like that.

"Shit!" One of the clones shouted. "This isn't w-what you're think, w-we were just taking a b-break Boss." Do clones need a break? Apparently they do.

"Whatever, just get yourselves ready for the rush-hour. I have to help fix Nami's ship."

"What? Nami-san is here? This early..." One of them said perplexed by the sudden introduction of the main character.

"Yeah, yeah, yadda yadda... Look, I want one of you to replace me in the frontdesk, and no fooling around while I'm gone."

"Hai Oyabun!"

Looking for our orange headed navigator-to-be I found her and followed her outside the restauraunt to look for her ship presumably damaged ship. "Nice weather, don't you think?" She asked me with a side-glance from her part. _"Weird, didn't know Nami's into small talks"_

"Uh, it is nice I guess." I'm not really a fan of small talks here.

* * *

><p>"This is my ship!" Nami annouced with pride.<p>

"Hmm..." I boarded the ship and looked around. Not that I am a shipwright or anything, but me and my uncle went fishing alot, so there's thing and two that I know about mending ship. "The mast seems to be out of its angle and you'll need a new roof there on your gallery, the rudder needs to be also fixed. Nothing that a few nails and planks can't handle." I said that with a bright smile.

"Thank you..." She was obviously waiting for me to introduce myself. If so, she seems to be intrested in me: not sure how I should take that.

"Vane, Ezekiel Vane, and you are?" I requested the orange headed girl... can't say her name without sounding like a stalker.

"Nami, no lastname." She smiled.

"Well Nami-san, I'll go fetch some tools from my basement. I'll be right back with you." With that I left to grab the necessary tools all the while feeling her eyes on my back. I smiled at her over my shoulder and gazed in front of me.

Walking back to the basement I started thinking more about these past months. The weirdest thing being that I can't use Suiton (Water release) since it takes nearly all my reserves for a mere D-rank Jutsu. So I'll use it in a do or die situation, if not at all. And it's same with Doton (Earth release) though not as much, but enough to use it couple of times before I start wearing myself. Probably because they're not my primary affinities.

_"Seems I have to survive with what I have."_ My main affinity being Katon, I guessed it was because of the Sharingan. Speaking of my 'Mirror wheel eyes' I finally got the extra tomoes for each eye. The third one I have to wait for awhile longer.

* * *

><p>[30 minutes later]<p>

* * *

><p>"What's taking that idiot so long?" I heard Nami mumble and tapping her high-heels on the wooden deck of her boat.<p>

"Maa-maa~, it's not nice to talk about people behind their backs Nami-san. Well, in this case behind yours. People don't usually like that." I chuckled right behind her back with a smile. _"The art of __Shunshin no Jutsu__ (Body Flicker Jutsu)."_

"Wha-! Don't do that!" Number's of people I freaked out so far... about 342? She even had the decency to blush, whether it was from anger or embarrasment I'll never know.

"Gomenasai (Forgive me), Nami-san. Shall we get started?" After I boarded the wooden vessel, she looked at me again, but this time like I was insane.

"Ezekiel-san," Nami asked in her usual 'are you an idiot?' voice of hers she uses on Luffy. "I thought you said you'll get the tools. Where are they?"

_"Oh yeah, their sealed in my scroll." _I chuckled behind my hand and crouched down."Wanna see a magic trick?"

"Do we have time for that?" deadpanned Nami.

"There's always time for a little Magic." I took the scroll and set it in the deck, revealing the complex ink scribbles and kanjis to the world of One Piece.

It's ironic in a way.

"What is that?" came the curious question of the orange-haired Nami, of course, I didn't answer it right away. Focusing the right amount of chakra on my hand, I slammed the bluish aura down on the scroll and 'forced' the items out of the small pocket-dimension, revealing the various equipments of planks, hammer and nails.

Nami stood there, gaping like a fish. _"I'll never get bored to seeing those expressions."_

"W-what in the- How did you do that?" She shouted and pointed at the tools that came literally came out of nowhere.

"Himitsu (Secret) Nami-san, Hi-mit-su. A magician never reveals his or hers secrets. We all have our own skeletons in the closet," I smiled a rather creepy smile.

"How do y-.." I saw she was fidgeting and decided to have a little fun with the thief.

"Na-ah," I wagged my finger, "The secret is supposed to stay as it is, telling everyone would render it meaningless. We can't have that now can we. I'm sure you of all people understands that, Nami-san." I said with my monotone voice, unnerving her a little.

"H-hai"

"_Excellent_, now, shall we get started?"

* * *

><p>The repairings went fast, apart from the bad start with the small talk, it seems we have quite a few in common, like over-protective elder sisterstepsister, gardening and money. The last one made her smile slightly. I also told her some of my embarrassing stories from my world. At least I made her laugh, after what she's been through in her past.

"Done and done. Are you planning on leaving today, Nami-san?"

"Yes, the treasures won't pick themselves up," She's also more relaxed and brighter now with that smile of hers. "Hey, why don't you join me? It'll be awesome and I can tell you're strong. Think about all the money." She offered and I had a feeling that she would betray me if the time came as she's still working for Arlong.

I inwardly chuckled at that. I thought the first person to ask me to join them would be Luffy.

"Gomen (Sorry), I can't, I'm staying here to training more. Can't do that on a ship." She seemed slightly sad at that and decided to lift her mood a bit. "Tell you what," When I got her attention I continued. "You don't have to pay now, since I have a distinct feeling we'll meet again in the ocean about 4 months from now. How about you'll pay me back then?"

"Sounds great! Thank you for the repairings, don't know what I've done without you." She smiled, I first thought that she'll act like the cold woman she is, but shot it down as she is actually a nice girl behind the stony heart.

"Think nothing of it, and by the way." I fixed her with a stare.

"Hmm?" She didn't seem to notice that I was studying her.

"Can I have my necklace back?"

"W-what are you talking about. I haven't seen any necklace." She stuttered, probably not expecting that I noticed her snatching my necklace the second we bumped into each other.

"I saw you taking it from my pocket young lady, there is no need to deny it. Don't worry, I won't be mad."

"I don't know what mean." Nami was trying to put a strong fort and I had no time for stubborn women of all things; they annoy me.

"Nami-san..." I said in my icy, monotone voice which seeming made me more frightening with the . "I made a vow that if someone steals my Master's legacy... I **hunt them down**." She started to sweat when I accidently pumped chakra in my eyes, flashing my Sharingans down on the shorter girl.

"S-sorry, here. I thought you won't miss it." It seems I scared the hell out of her and was genuinly sorry.

"Forget it, you didn't know, but do know that greed will only get you so far. Sinful people will always be punished by either through fate or karma," After handing me my necklace, I secured it under my shirt and tapped my chest to see if it really was there. "See you in about 4 months, or if we happen to see earlier don't be a stranger." I gave her a brief smile and used Shunshin to disapper in a column of flames, freaking the hell out of her.

After regaining her composure, she shook her head. "Why do all nice and good-looking guys have to be like... whatever that was." I heard Nami mumbling to herself from my position on a nearby rooftop close to the harbour.

_"And here I thought chicks liked mysterious, creepy guys."_

* * *

><p>[Cloud Restaraunt, Nightfall]<p>

* * *

><p><em>"So it's this late now? Better close this place up. People usually want pizza's at nighttimes, maybe because it's romantic? I don't know.<em>" Packing the last order I went to the front door and closed it tightly. Stretching a bit I thought back that I haven't slept in 4 days and tommorow is my 2 week long vacation courtesy of Lisa. She said that I should take a rest sometimes, obviously me saying that I'm alright doesn't go through her anymore and after her finding out about my insomnias she practically dragged me to a doctor. I said it wasn't bad, but she won't have none of that.

Even the ever happy Lisanna started to cry, thinking that something bad happened to me. After assuring her that it wasn't, she insisted that she'll help me count the sheeps... her words, not mine.

Thought what saddened the girls mother was that I'll have to go to fulfill my Masters wish. That I have to live my life to the fullest and by doing so I must become a pirate and have lots of adventures. The last part was a partial lie, but it has nowadays become one of my dreams you know: To join the Straw Hats. Lisanna took the news pretty well, but after promising her that I'll visit them in the near future.

"Nii-chan!" And like a rocket, the girl I was thinking about glomped on my leg. She started to climb to my shoulders with quickening pace, scaring the hell out of me. If I didn't know any better I'd say Daxter taught her that.

"Why hello there little monkey." I helped her get to my shoulder, she was starting to weight a lot.

"I am not a monkey!"

"You don't see me climbing like one." I saw she blushed when she looked down, it was cute.

"Ne? Are you ready for tonight?"

"Huh? Ready for what?"

"Nii-chaaan~, today is the festivals, you promised me we'll go there." She began to mess up my hair with her patent pouting.

_"Crap, forgot about those." _"Maa-maa~... your old brother figure can't remember that much can he? Your eating all my vitamins," After a short giggle we went to see Lisa in one of the stools reading one of my books. "Is Lisa-san going to join us?"

"There's no need to it. You guys go and have fun, but don't be too late though." She smiled at me, something she did a lot to me nowadays.

"We will." Me and Lisanna said at the same time. I took my black hoodie and put it on and walked outside. _"Why do I feel like we forgot someone?" _I thought to myself as I felt Lisanna gripping my hair.

"Nii-chan, can Mr. Snoopypants come with us?" I chuckled at the nickname she gave to him. The girl said she didn't like his name.

"Sure sweety, Oi! Mr. Snoopypants! We're going out, you comin'?" Not a second too late he ran from upstairs and climbed up to Lisanna's head.

"What am I, a tree?" The ottsel gave me a grin, or I felt he gave me one. He's been keeping his part of the deal so far. Nowadays the ottsel remembers most of his memories saying that his last vision was of a weird guy with a long green/blond hair with equally long pointy ears. I remember sighing a lot and told him that he's actually a game figure made to drive people nuts. He was mostly depressed about it, but after saying that now it is different and he can make a life for himself brough him out of his bad vibes.

* * *

><p>We were strolling around the place, trying out some games and eating cotton candies all the while greeting few familiar faces here and there.<p>

"I want that doll, can you win it for me?" Lisanna asked me and pointed at a stall with row upon row of dolls. I shrugged my shoulders as we made our way to the stall. There was the all-too-familiar dagger game I used to play as a kid where you have to get 5 straight bulls-eyes to win the grand prize.

"I'd like to try out my luck in this game."

"Sure sir, that'll be 1000 berries." The bearded man said.

"Isn't that a bit too much?"

"Not at all, the dolls here are all high-quality made."

I was thinking about leaving the place... that is until Lisanna made the puppy dog eyes with a pout and of course me, being just your average dimension traveler with a orange precursor, couldn't let kids down. Taking the 1000 berri from my pocket, I slammed it in front of the stall guy. The man immediately gave me 5 darts and a fake smile. I looked at them and saw them being rigged that it'll miss my intended target by a mile. Well, I couldn't rat out the man because I'll lose the chance to win the doll.

Putting Lisanna and the ottsel down I took all the darts in between my fingers. I coated them with wind chakra to increase its piercing capability and durability to make up for the rigged parts. I activated my Sharingas and threw them at the darts same time, hitting all the bulls eyes. The clerks eyes shot up and I just looked at him smugly making him gulp a lump of saliva to his dried throat.

"H-here's you prize good s-sir," he took a life sized doll of... a Pikachu.

_"Well this is just getting weirder and weirder." _I gave the little girl her Pikachu-doll and seeing her being happy about it, made me feel good about myself that I thought will come much more frequently during my travels here.

"Can you make it disappear like you always do?"

"Sure." With that I sealed the Pikachu-doll into one of my wristband scribbled seal for that authentic magic trick that making her giggle. After that episode, we went to grab hot dogs for the three of us and resumed our winning streak. That is until we... well I... saw a familiar orange hair from between the crowds. _"She did say she'll leave today. Maybe she's staying for the festivals?"_ I walked up to her as she spotted me and gave me a apolectic smile.

"Ah, Nami-san. I did say 4 months, not 4 hours. You really do miss me," I saw her blush at that, so I continued teasing her more, "Well I AM a nice and good-looking guy, so it's no suprising that you wanted to stay for an extra day."

"Y-you heard that?" After a nod and a smile she asked another question. "How did you do that flame thing and then just vanished?" When my smile got even wider she remember something and palmed her face. "Of course, it's a secret."

"I _might_ tell you later, but nows not the time" I childlishly wagged my finger in front of her face. It might seem rude, but who cares, I was in a good mood today.

"Nii-chan, who's she? Is she your girlfriend?" That comment made me blush a bit, but as fast as it came it vanished. No need to give Daxter a reason to rub that in my face tonight.

"No, she's a... uhm.. a new friend of mine."

Apparently Nami got out of her own world and noticed the bubbly blonde girl and the ottsel.

"What is that?" She pointed at Daxter. A healthy question to ask IF you'll have the decency NOT to point at him. And as if on cue, the ottsel started to growl ferociously at Nami.

"He doesn't like being pointed at and to answer your question, he's a mix of an otter and a weasel, an ottsel named Daxter."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Nami reached her hand and scratched him behind the ears while Dax kept looking at her breasts which didn't go unnotice by Nami since she stopped scratching him and started muttering something about perverted animals.

"Anywho, would you mind joining us here at the festivities, I'll also add a free tour around this place." I tried to change the odd stare between the pseudo-human and the future navigator of the Straw Hats.

"Hai! Nami-san, Nii-chan can win prizes for you," Lisanna beamed and started to lean forward on my head.

"Can he now? You sure are full of surprises."

"Believe me, that's not even half of it." We began to walk a bit. "Oh, just so you know, the little sunshine in my shoulders name is Lisanna. Say hi to Nami-san"

"How old are you Nami-san?"I rolled my eyes for her straight forwardness in nearly all of her conversations. I decided to leave it at that and listen to it.

After awhile I spotted a bench nearby and thought that we'll take a break there. I won a doll for Nami from the same stall I won the Pikachu. A Kirby that looks like an orange with leaves on its head. A genuine smile and a thank you made me smile back.

"Nii-chan, I'm tired. Can we go home now?"

"Oh, yeah. It's already past your bedtime," Bummer, seems like I have to wait the 4 months after all. "Does Nami-san have a place to stay?"

"Yes, there's my small ship, there's a small sized room in it, so I'm covered. Thanks for asking."

"Good, would you mind escorting us back home, I'll of course walk you back to your ship after it." I offered her.

She blushed at that and replied while looking everywhere else. "I'd love to."

The rest of the way we talked more about the festivals and the meaning of it. She also told me her dream is to draw a map of the entire world which I already knew and smiled for the ambitous dream of hers. She'll have a lot of work on her hands if she's aiming for that.

* * *

><p>[Cloud Restaraunt]<p>

* * *

><p>"Where were you gu... oh, it seems you have a quest with you, Ezekiel-kun." It's weird how she keeps changing her mood so sudden, freaking woman creeps me out. "Who is she?"<p>

"Gomen, Lisa-san. I forgot about the time and the amount of dolls we won" I added with a short bow, followed by Nami mainly out of politeness. "And she's.."

"Nami, just Nami. Nice to meet you Lisa-san."

The older woman chuckled at us and walked over to where we stood. "If I didn't know better I'd say you two look cute together," That didn't stop us both from blushing and her to chuckle more. "I'm kidding, though I haven't seen Ezek-Kun take any intrest in girls around here. I was momentarily afraid that he's... well, gay."

"I'm sure you'd love to see me in a pink dress." Making the girls in the restaraunt laugh, nearly waking Lisanna.

"I'll take her to bed and you be a gentleman and escort the young woman to her destination" Lisa more like ordered me.

"Hai, Lisa-san."

"So, Ezek-kun?" I raised an eyebrown at that once we got outside and away from the crazy restaraunt owner. "Who is she?"

_"Again that question, why do women see each other as enemies? Can't we all live in peace without worrying someone stealing someone,"_ I delayed the question and gave Nami a small glance. She looked pretty, attractive even from the illuminating moon. Not that I'll ever admit it. "She's the owner of the restaraunt I'm helping around."

"How'd you get the job?" Noticing that she was genuinely intrested, I started to tell her my side of the story. Well the story AFTER I landed here. She even laughed when I told her about bubbly blondes birthday where she 'accidentally' bought small candle-bombs instead the usual birthday candles. It was a mess. Cakes everywhere.

"And not a single cake was given that day."

Nami giggled for a second and looked forward "Aren't you an intresting one."

"So they say..."

When we reach the ship she boarded it and looked at me.

"I had fun today, thanks."

"Think nothing of it." I gave her a grin, "So, your leaving tommorow morning?"

"Yes..."

"And me offering you a breakfast won't change your mind?"

*giggles* "I'm afraid not. I hope we'll see again."

"4 months, if you can wait that long, your wish, will come true." With a mock bow I said, "I bid you good night and sweet dreams." I got a short view of her blushing and rolling her eyes.

"Whatever casanova, leave and good night to you too."

_"Well there's the real Nami." _Turning around I faintly heard her sigh. I resisted the urge to use Shunshin, don't want her to have a cardiac arrest.

* * *

><p><em>"Man, was today a long day or what."<em>

"So, did you kiss her?" And it's about to turn even longer.

"No, Dax, I didn't"

"Did you see her body? Growl, she's a betty. And she likes you, Ez. Not that I can account for her taste. I bet you'd love to pin some medals on _her_ chest, huh?"

I rubbed my forehead in frustation. "Daxter, Goddamnit"

"You should've let me help you, bub. Who knows you'd still be there with her under the co..."

"One more word and you'll see yourself in the wall as a orange stain."

*gulp* "You really need an anger managment or at least an outlet."

"I already see one." I glared at him.

"Chill man, so you got us the 2 week long vacation. What are we doing then until that passes?"

"I want to learn the Chidori (One-Thousand Birds) and its variations, so I'll be training that, and more training to up my reserves."

"Didn't you once said that you're looking for a sword?" He asked me after I changed into more comfortable clothes.

"Uhm, yeah? Why you ask?"

"I remember there being something shining falling with you. It looked like a sword or sumthin," He shrugged nonchalantly, ignoring my stare at his smaller form.

"..."

"..."

"And your telling now, why?"

"My memory works when I see hot chicks,"

"Figures."

* * *

><p>*groan* "Jeesus, do I feel great or something." I started to stretch and felt my bones pop the second I threw my legs to the side of the bed.<p>

"Yeah, yeah. Get yo ass up. The sword won't slash people from itself... I hope."

Dragging myself to the bathroom I went by with my usual morning routine. After that I took my yesterdays attires and made my bed. As I made my way downstairs with Daxter slunged on my shoulder, I noticed the lack of customers in the restaraunt. _"Saturday, this place is closed for weekends." _Shrugging, I walked to the kitchen and saw Lisa washing the dishes. I went to her and started to dry off the wet dishes she piled next to her. We were silent the whole time, that is until Lisa asked me a question.

"Did you kiss her?"

_"Not her too." _Iinwardly groaned."No, I haven't."

"Why not? Even I can tell she likes you."

"You think so?" I was intrested now. Nami liking someone like me? That would be absurd, I thought she was into romantic kind of guys, something which I am not.

"Absolutely, when will you see her again?"

"After I leave..."

"Oh... so what are doing this week?" She tried to change the subject and I was grateful for that.

"I'll go to the forest training with Daxter."

"Do you want me to pack you food?"

"No need, we'll hunt," I also started to train my survival skills, seeing as I'm obviously far away from home.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive, it's what we men do." I pounded my chest with a grin.

"Well, you're the _man._" giggled Lisa as she dried her hands.

"All done. I'll see you guys in 2 weeks, and oh." I re-summoned the doll I won the previous night. "The prize I won for Lisanna-chan, can you give this to her for me?"

"Sure." I remember once showing this trick to her, it was fun seeing her freak out and was instantly bombarded with questions which I blamed on me being a magician and magician never reveal their secret.

"Stay beautiful, both of you."

* * *

><p>[Lisnor Forest]<p>

* * *

><p>"You thinks there's monsters here?" The fearful ottsel asked me from his spot on my shoulder.<p>

"I hope so, which means I don't have to chase them. The Prey comes to the Predator, classic."

"Why do I get stuck with the mental ones?"

"Because you know the location to the mystery sword, which way?"

"This way!" Dax pointed to my left. I jumped on the canopy of a tree and began to jump like a ninja from Naruto.

[2 hours later, same place, same guy and same ottsel]

"Fuck you Forest!" "Fuck you Forest!" "Fuck you Forest!"'... The whole forest started to echo after my shout of annoyance mixed with a furious frustation. "Argh! You and your brilliant memory. I'll have to introduce it to Zoro's sense of direction!"

* * *

><p>[Somewhere in South Blue,]<p>

* * *

><p>*Haatscho*<p>

*Sniff*

"Someone must be talking about me." Zoro said to himself after walking in circles again.

* * *

><p>"I swear it's somewhere here!" The orange ottsel kept convincing me that he wasn't <em>that<em> bad after he remembered the green-haired swordsmans tale of getting lost.

"AAAAAAHHH!"

"The hell," I stopped walking and looked around for that voice,"Daxter, which way?" One thing I learned from the precursor is that he's a good tracker thanks to that high sense of smell of his.

"Southeast from our position," Pumping chakra to my legs I hopped into one of the trees here and sped off. It didn't take us long to find pirates over-powering the Marines in a clearing near the ocean.

"Should I help em', less Marines, less drama"

"Didn't you just say that you're a guy of righteous?"

"Nooo... I'm a guy who righteously _beats_ righteous into someone... or everyone if necessary. Hold on a second," Activating my Sharingan I partially zoomed to the area. There seems to be a sword stuck in a stone in the middle of the soon to be slaughter fest. _"Why do I feel like I'm watching one of those disney movies?"_

"Hey, who's that blue-haired chick with the weird outfit?" Looking closely I knew what was going on. Tashigi, the crazed sword woman ordered those poor Marines here to retrieve the sword and the pirates just want the sword because... well... they're pirates. Deciding that I should at least show common courtesy here, I'll help the blue-whites out. _"I swear I'm going to regret this,"_ I used my Body Flicked technique with Daxter who, by now, is used to the high-speed movement and landed in the middle of the fight.

They seemed to be fighting with words here. I usually thought that pirates, regardless of who they are, take what they want without a muss. The second I landed on the clearing, all eyes were on me. "All eyes on me, that's how tupac must've felt..." I smiled and started to hum a random fight themed music.

"Who now?" Daxter inquired, giving me a rather perceptive look.

"The dead music artist, who died back in the 90's." Looking around, there were roughly 20 pirates and half the amount of Marines staring at me like they've seen a ghost.

"Who're you?" Tashigi asked as she gripped her sword and re-adjusted her over-sized glasses.

"Pardon my intrusion, I was just taking a light peaceful stroll around here until I heard I feminine scream." One of the Marines hang his head low in shame. "So I thought that someone obviously needs some assistance and well, here I am."

"You aren't a pirate are you?"

"Last time I checked, no." She seemed to relax slightly, only slightly. There's still the problem with the pirates. "You guys look tired, mind if I continue from here?"

"Umm.." Tashigi didn't know what to say. I felt her eyes on the ottsel on my shoulders and thought that there's not much ottsels around here, maybe in the Grand Line? God, if I see another one of his creatures, I might go on a bloodrage.

"Like hell you can beat us!" the pirates shouted and made a mad dash at me.

_"9 at the same time? I thought that they all attack me at once. These guys do have brains." _I sighed and mixed the physical and spiritual energy to create chakra and waved through a few hand seals to perform a ninjutsu. "Boar, Ram, Snake, Horse, Dragon –Raiton: Jibashi (Lightning Release: Earth Flash). I slammed my glowing right hand to the ground and unleashed a surge of electricity that ripped the earth open and sizzled the pirates into smoked files. They were alive, I could just kill them, but the would only make me look bad in front of the marines.

"Are there anymore? There's plenty where that came from." I grinned with a trail of lightning dancing on my arms for a second until it vanished. The people who were still conscious were dead silence, I could feel that they were scared by the blatant display of my... magic trick.

"W-wh-what the hell are you!" The captain – I assumed – stuttered and used his crew as a meat shield. Like that would help him.

"Oh, I'm just a helpless pedestrian, no need to be so tense." I slowly made my way towards them and smiled seeing them take a few steps back in fright.

"You know what, if you want the sword so badly you can have it! Men, tactical retreat!" The lot ran away and boarded their ship. I was actually impressed by the speed they boarded their ship and left the island never to return. Master was right: fear _is_ a great motivator.

"Wait, get back here in the name of justice!" Tashigi yelled to the sailing pirates as she somehow appeared next to me without me noticing.

"I don't think that gets them back, that is, unless you have a booty for them... if you know what I mean." She had a decency to by my implication. Not that I really meant it, I was just teasing her. "But who I'm I to judge. I'm just a helpless pedestrian taking on the fresh air of the morning day. You should try, it's good for your skin and does wonder for those stress marks under your eyes."

She turned to me and smiled, totally ignoring me actually complimenting her. "Thanks for the help. I don't know if we would've made it out without you. We got lost from our superior officer looking for that sword."

I merely chuckled and set my eyes on the katana stuck to the ground. The weapon looked more like a decoration than a battle-orientated sword people use to slash each other into pieces. But still, it looked quite dangerous with its sharp blade and light blue hamon in zig-zag patterns all the way to the tip, kinda like a saw-blade. The katana has a four-petal-shaped tsuba on in it, an azure colored scabbard with golden trims that was neatly lying next to the katana undistturbed and untouched by anyone.

So far.

"Is that-." I would've continued, but was interrupted by Tashigi staring at the sword like a diabetic child on a cookie jar.

"Yes, it's called 'Yamaoroshi' and one of the Ryo Wazamono (Skillful Grade Swords)." She had that dreamy look in her eyes that told me she was a sword fanatic and if said sword was a man – or female – she would've married it.

_"I was about to say; Gee miss, didn't that belong to Billy from the Yes Pirates that YOU beated and confiscated from?" _I kept that info on me and gave a small nod that I was 'exactly' on the same wave as her.

"The sword is stuck in there, and none of us can pull it out," a comical lightbulb appeared on top of her head and she looked at me with wide, excited eyes behind those thick glasses of hers. They creeped the crap out of me. "Traveler-san, can you help us pull that sword?"

"I guess... sure... why not, but the names Vane, Ezekiel Vane, not just a traveler miss..."

"Tashigi." She smiled at me and set her glasses in front of her to examine me properly.

I just nodded and made my way to the katana. _"It is stuck pretty deep."_ I saw it was stuck pretty deep so I could see about an inch of the blade. I grabbed a hold of the hand and felt a ominous, cold wind surround me and _helped_ me pull out the scary katana out of the ground. There was that one, small thought that I became the king of England until I banished it to the back of my head. The

Marines were looking at me with awe whilst I was just looking at the katana from all angles. The attention from them was quite disturbing, they remind me of my fathers kadetts I had the _pleasure_ to meet.

"That's it?" I made few test swings and had this weird cool wind help me with the swipes I made.

"Can I look at it?" Tashigi asked and made the cursed puppy eyes on me.

"I don't see why not."

As I was about to give her the katana for her to look at, there was the cold wind again, but this time it was much stronger than before. Right when the Marinette was about to grace it with her finger, a cut was found on the tip of the limb. She winced from it and pulled her hand away as the Marines under her – *snickers* – had their hands on those cutlasses of theirs.

"Autch, what was that all about?" Tashigi stared at me with a disapproved scowl.

"Don't look at me like that, I haven't done anything." I answered her as I grabbed the scabbard from the ground and sheated the odd katana. With that done, I sealed it in my wristband scribbled sealing cloth with a poof of smoke.

"How did y..."

"Trademark secret, Tashigi-san." I grinned, right when I was about to turn around and leave the scene with a new weapon. Tashigi aproached me and grabbed my black hoodie. I looked at her over my shoulder and quirked and eyebrow by the weird motion made by the usually shy girl.

"W-wait! You seem like a good person, have you ever consider joining the Marines?" The blue-haired Marinette had those hopeful looking eyes that wished for a positive result. Kinda like my uncle uses whenever he bought a lottery ticket only to lose it.

You know, I never considered joining the Marines. My father _was_ – and still is – a Marine thorugh and through. He was always gone saying that his work is more important than his family, it made me sick. But, here I am, in the world of One Piece surrounded by corrupted Marines who work with Warlords and support slavery for the World Goverment. Joining a pirate crew who beats them... yeah, I'd rather go with that and sides, I can see Nami and get my money back.

While I was contemplating about my new founf dilemma, I noticed someone coming out of the bushes from corner of my eyes. I ignored what I was thinking about and fully turned to see Captain Smoker himself staring back at me with the twin cigars hanging from his mouth. _"Great, just great. If a fight breaks down between us then I might as well kill myself. Well, I'll still have the element of surprise on my side."_ The air was tense around us while we both were silently studying each other, until he voiced his thoughts.

"Tashigi, whose your friend?" Smoker asked with that gruff voice of his without dropping those cigars.

"Smoker-taicho (Captain)," Tashigi saluted to her superior closely followed by the other Marines behind her in a neat line "his name is Ezekiel. He helped us capture some of these pirates. Unfortunately, we couldn't get the rest because of the damage we took from them and had to tend the wounded." She made a quick bow to him and turned to me with that bright smile of anticipation. "Say, Ezekiel-san, what do you say? Want to join us to uphold peace and justice?"

"No" I answered without missing a beat and kept my eyes on Smoker incase he does something. The man was as unpredictable as they come.

"Great," Tashigi nodded, seemingly ignoring my refusal all-together. "we're leaving in 30 minutes so... what?" Seems like the message got finally through her. About damn time too, I hate to repeat myself.

"You heard me, I'm not gonna join the Marines."

She was saddened by that, but I have already made my decision to join Luffy's crew, if he'll let me of course. If not... few magic tricks here and there and I'm in. Impressing the Strawhat kid won't be that hard now will it?

"Why's that?" Now it was Smokers turn to interrogate me so I had to be careful what I'll say to the smoke-man.

"Do I need a reason?" I asked in my monotone voice making him raise an eyebrow. Maybe I should just be me: the annoying fake shinobi.

"Just curious..."

".."

".."

I sighed after a long silence and crossed my arms over my chest. "Fine, the reason being corrupt Marines who are easy to bribe, their affiliation with the Shichibukais and supporting slavery. Is that enough of a reason, since I do have couple more."

He frowned at that. Probably knowing I'm right, but Tashigi, she seemed to be the most shocked out of all her suborbinates. Knowing her, she didn't know about those. "That's not true, Marines never do such a thing!"

"Believe what you want. There's more to Marines than the eye meets." That made her finally shut up.

"Fair enough of a reason... but do know if I see you making trouble, I'll make sure you're arrested." Smoker warned me and made that creepy glare of his.

"Wouldn't think of it, _sir_." I chuckled behind my smug grin. _"Because when we reach Loguetown, all hell will break loose."_

"Do you happen to be a Devil Fruit-user?" Smoker asked me once more, probably trying to get info about me.

"Me?" I innocently pointed at myself. "Of course not. I love swimming, naked most of the time. I'd recommend swimming after a long sunbath, makes an amazing work to that deathly pale skin of yours. That can't be healthy," Smoker and his suborbinates sweatdropped by my tips for their feared officer.

Tashigi seemed to come back to life from my earlier out-put on the flaws on justice system and started to shout, "Then how did you do that fire thing, the lighning stuff and those red eyes of yours? That has to be a Devil Fruit-ability" She yelled not really knowing what to make about my awesome ninja skills.

*sigh* "Tashigi-san I can't say those were Devil Fruit-abilities, but I can say that it has nothing to do with Devil Fruits. Seeing as water and Kairoseki (Seastone) don't affect me."

"Then you don't mind me doing this." Smoker's gruff voice echoed around the clearing making obvious that he won't take no for an answer as he now stood in front of me. He took out his jutte and placed it in my chest. After a few seconds he raised his eyebrow again for one reason or another. "Either you're a good at not acting fatiqued or you really don't have a Devil Fruit."

Still with his jutte on my chest I said with amusement lased on my voice, "Lying is not my thing, but if you don't mind I'd like to make my leave now so I bid you all a farewell." I looked around a bit with a smile on my face. "Until we meet again Smoker-san, Tashigi-san," I made a rathe elaborated bow and vanished in a column of fire out of their sight, but was still close to them to eavesdrop for any outside information. They didn't say anything beside how scary I was. The rest was boring so I made my leave with another Body Flicker to the denser part of the greenery around us.

* * *

><p>"You know, you're kinda creepy when you want to," my orange sidekick commented after I set him down and worked on my taijutsu.<p>

"Puh-lease~, that was nothing. I can scare the hell out of people if I want to. It's like the classic debate about why measuring the position of an electron changes its momentum and vice versa. The only correct answer is to get drunk and blow things up."

"What?"

"Nothing, forget it."

The weird thing about using chakra is the amount of bloodlust I've been having lately. Sure its not much, but if it continues to grow I might hurt someone close to me. Maybe I'll take it out on someone who acts like a walking dick.

"So, you ready to try that sword?"

"I was born ready."

* * *

><p>[4 months later, Cloud Restaraunt]<p>

* * *

><p>I was sitting in my bed thinking to myself. By now the whole village knows about me leaving today and decided to throw a party for me last night. It was fun while it lasted. While I was appreciative about the attention, I decided to spend my day with the resident of the popular restaraunt. I managed to recruit some real employers this time rather than my clones. It was troublesome, but it got the job done seeing that Lisa is now responsible for the management, giving her more time to spent with her daughter.<p>

The funnies thing so far was that I met the two bounty hunters; Johnny and Yosaku in my party no less. I really didn't expect them off all people – anime characters – to show up. I always thought they were a pair of idiots, but through a twisted fate we got to know each other – after I saved their asses that is. Not to be outdone of course they both challenged me to a swordmatch which I won with great difficulty seeing as I still have to get used to the odd katana.

Our conversation went to their supposed greatness and fame to me starting a journey to explore the world. They suggested that the two of them help me search Zoro and challenge the guy. I instantly refused that request, when it comes to swords, Zoro is a monster in his own right. There are even rumor about his killing intent being on a monstrous level that even I'm hesitated to be on the receiving side of it. I've had my share of Sakki (Killing Intent) from the dumbass pirates, bandits and other scumbags attacking this place.

At least the Marines made a new base here. Hope that's enough for them.

I walked towards the mirror of the room I've been occupying for over a year now. Not that I'm bragging here, but my physique was well developed in contrast to how I was when I got here. The wonders of anime law interracting with your body is amazing indeed. I shook my head at that, I'm being petty here and ran my fingers through my hair that has grown a bit past the ears while having that animesh gravity defying appearance on them.

I leaned closed to the mirror and stared into my now pupilles obsidian eyes thanks to the late usage of the bloodline limit I seem to have in me. I still wasn't sure how I got it, but better not look judge the cow by its stripe.

Today my attire consisted of a plain white short reaching to my mid-calves, black sandals I have no idea where I got from, black hoodie with the zipped done half-way to the top with no shirt underneath it. I also had that sealing wristband of mine that I came to use as a magic trick. Instead of summoning stuff from a scroll, these one come from my wrist in a small column of white smoke, pretty neat. Only this time it has weapons and other miscellaneous things I might find useful.

I got few more presents for example: a huge scroll and straps for me to hold onto my stuff. I gave the mirror one more glance and nodded to it, receiving the same nod from my own reflection. It was time to see what future got for me in store. "You ready Dax?" I asked the climbling ottsel who sat on my shoulder with his own trademark grin.

"Ready? I was born ready!"

I chuckled, mostly to myself for this very unlikely situation I find myself in. There were moments where I thought I'll make a stop here and spend my life as a civilian. After thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that peaceful living isn't really my thing and that I should make the best out of what I got dealt in front of me.

* * *

><p>You're really leaving Nii-chan?" A sad Lisanna asked me as she held a firm grip on my pants. I crouched down to her level and lifted her head to look at me.<p>

"Yes, I'm sorry, but it's something I have to do."

"I understand."

"No need to be glumpy, I already promised that I'll visit and we'll win ALL the dolls. How does that sound?" I tried to lift her mood by baiting her with childish stuff like candies or dolls. What? It worked so far and still does as I saw the little bubbly blonde girl smile. She game me a tight hug and tried to give me huge hug with her tiny arms: it was cute. I stood up and ruffled her hair as I walked towards her mother who rekindled me with memories of my own before her untimely death. "Thank you for everything, meeting you was the best thing that happened to me, I'll miss you all for sure."

She looked at me weirdly with a tilted head in a off angle. It was a weird tick she uses to mess with me. "What, no Lisa-san? That's a first. I thought you'd me more respectful than that," regardless of her teasing, she gave me a warm hug which I gladly returned. "Be safe out there, and don't forget to write, ok?"

"Wouldn't dream of it" I reluctantly broke off the hug and ruffled the crying little girls hair with my eyes on the wide ocean... and the boat I'm supposed to sail with my aniki's, "Those idiots," I sighed and turned around to the crowd with a playful smile. "As a farewell present to you kind people! Witness as the great Dark Magician make his final conjuration to you!" I gave a small, mocking bow and closed my eyes once I faced the ocean. The chakra I greated started to swirl in my stomach and coursed through my body until it stayed firmly under the soles of my sandals. I gently touched the waters and started to walk on it like your average joe. The gasps of astonishment were music to my ears as I turned around and waved to the shocked people, "Take care everyone!"

* * *

><p>It took me awhile to catch up to the wayward bounty hunters, but finally managed to board their boat and scare the crap out of them. I did repress my annoyance to them for ditching me, but not before I was asked about the water-walking I performed. My reply: a good magician never reveals his secret.<p>

I leaned back on the boat and gazed at the cloudless sky, "Where are we going?"

"Bounty hunting of course," answered a rather enthusiastic Yosaku as I somehow managed to forced them to row.

"I meant _where_ are we going to hunt?" The voice sounded a bit irritated if not a bit tired now that I'm on my one week streak of insomnia.

They looked at each other and replied at the same time, "No idea."

I sighed at them, "You guys are hopeless, you know that?"

"At least we won't _starve_ if those nimrods decide to gets us lost" Daxter also sighed in frustation, his voice being a bit more composed than mine.

"Guess you're right."

"DID THAT SQUIRREL JUST TALK!" The two ''fearsome'' bounty hunters exclaimed in terror.

"I ain't no squirrel ya puss, I'm a human, ottsel and a precursor and the names being Daxter. Get that through your hear, _comprende?_" I was watching the scene with humor as Dax started to rant about me always getting into trouble and him saving me.

* * *

><p>It has already been three days since we left the Lisnor Island and I was starting to wonder if we'll die here out of boredom. Sure the thought of dying through a starvation sounds great, but the problem was that I had few provisions sealed in my ''magic scroll of mystery food'' as dubbed by the two swordsmen.<p>

After a long and hard repetition of rowing later, we find ourselves taking a break on a huge, rocky pillar in the middle of the sea. The reason for it being that Yosaku, no matter how many times I told him, refused to eat anything else except meat. See how that went, the guy is close to dying and I'm out of anything that contains vitamin. So much for my survival skills.

"You guys stay here while I climb this rock, Dax with me." I more like ordered to Johnny who kept crying to his partner. I rolled my eyes and set the scroll down as to not weight me down. That thing weights a lot for a rolled-up paper and ink. Once I landed on top of the huge rock, I took in my surrounding to spot the familiar goat-headed ship. "Where are they, where are they..." There wasn't anything beside a small, black dot growing bigger and bigger every time I blinked. It was also at that time when I noticed the black dot actually being a cannonball about to kill us. "Incomi-!"

*Ka-Boom!*

I believed for a second that the cannonball was aimed at me, because it was _really_ close to my leg. Had I not pumped chakra to my legs and propelled myself out of the rock, the well aimed cannonball would've no doubt severed my legs underneath me. I was in so much panic at the time that I actually rocketed myself far away and had to calm down.

"What the f**k was that!"

I shook my head at the frenzy ottsel who hid himself under my hood. "Probably the _Great_ Captain Usopp_-sama_ showing off his _amazing_ skills." Not sure how Usopp would've handle the fact that he actually killed someone. I don't have such restriction of morality as they all vanished thanks to those violent videos games I've been playing. Guess the game industry was right: a child plus a game stimulant really messes up your head.

"You have to be kidding me? This is something I expect you to do! Why the hell would you shoot down a miniature island? What if someone – like us – were to take a little break there?" Daxter began to rant on and on, which is kinda annoying as I water-walked towards the Going Merry now visible on the horizon. The two bounty hunters were long since gone to make their complaints.

Once I got close to the ship, I jumped and sat down on the rail. I was disappointed that no one took notice of me, not that I blame them. People don't expect for someone to walk to their sailing ship.

"We did that?" I was just in time to see Luffy and Usopp bow their heads down in front of Johnny and the now prone Yosaku who's skin shade turned grey. "We're terribly sorry! We didn't meant that! Please forgive us!"

"Sorry won't bring him and the squirrel back! He's dead because of you!" Johnny cried over mine and Dax's death, still not aware that I was sitting right opposite of him and behind the gathered pirates staring at Yosaku. "We thought we had another brother, but you killed him!"

"Who got killed?" I asked by tilting my head to the side and took immense pleasure seeing the pirates – specially Zoro – freak out. "I'd like to pay my respects if that is okay with you guys."

"Of course you can! It is your funeral!" The bounty hunter was still oblivious to the strange looks he received from his inability to take in his surroundings. "The funny squirrel gets his own too!"

"Whoa, hold on!" Daxter shouted, "Who the hell are you calling a squirrel! I have you know, I'm the most dangerous terminator on Haven City! You better show me some respect!" I chuckled at his antics to get this troubled over a minor misunderstanding.

"Did that rat just talk!" I broked down laughing and gaught a glimps of Dax growling furiously at the pirates.

"Aniki?" About damn time the dark-haired bounty hunter woke up from his short prayer. "You're alive! Oh thanks goodness!"

"Yeah, no thanks to you." I glared at him. "Why'd ya leave me behind? Was it really that hard to just wait for few minutes so we could complain about this?"

"He, he... sorry about that aniki," Johnny dumbly rubbed the back of his head. "I acted in the moment." I chuckled, again and dismissed his wary with a wave of my hand. At that moment, Luffy decided to voice out his thoughts. He was staring at me for quite a while now.

"Your skin..." Luffy walked closer to me and pinched my cheek. His cheery visage morphed into disappointment. "It's not made out of chocolate..." A tick mark appeared on my head as I swatted his hand off. My skin wasn't even that dark, only somewhat more tanned than Usopp who bashed the idiots head for being disrespectful, not to mention slighty offensive. "Oh, I get it! His skin looks like hijiki!"

I slapped my hand on my forehead for the rubberman to actually compare me to a brown sea vegetable. Annoyed, yet amused by his straightforwardness, I pinched Luffy's nose and pulled it back which – no surprise there – stretched far back. I had fun messing with him, so I let go of the nose and chuckled seeing Luffy fall on his butt the second his nose ''returned'' where it belonged.

"You two don't happen to be brothers do you?" I asked and pointed to the straw hat wearing kids nose who deformed into exact replica of the sharpshooters pinocchio nose. The two looked at each other, blinked and looked back at me.

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed his distinct laughter and jumped in front of Zoro. "Look, Zoro, Look! I'm Usopp! Now I can lie!"

"I don't lie!" protested Usopp, "Didn't I tell you that I once fought a giant purple lizard who kept spitting huge muccus to our village?"

"Really?" I chuckled and leaned closer. The act was a bit intimidating by the hood I had over my head shadowing my eyes from Usopp who gulped in fright. "You don't really strike me as a frontline fighter."

"You're right, last time he tried to run away from the catman and was close to piss a lake underneath him." Zoro refered to their fight with Kuro and his gang. The swordsman was still tense around me, don't know why, but didn't really hold a grudge against him because of it. He was like that.

"I did not!"

"Sure, of course." I laughed, "Anyways, you guys seem cool enough for me to introduce myself. My name is-."

"Ezekiel Vane." Nami, who kept her distance from us for one reason or another, interrupted me. Maybe it was because she owes me money. Or maybe, she missed me and is angry that I didn't call her. Usually that gets to them everytime I make an acquaintance with the opposite gender. "It has been awhile."

"You know each other?" the green-haired swordsman inquired after his bout with Usopp and Luffy's contest whose nose is longer.

"Hardly," I smiled, "She tried to rob me."

"Figures..."

"I did not!" Nami protested with a comical tick mark on her enclosed fist. "Its not my problem you have such a valuable jewerly on you." My hands tentatively wrapped around my precious diamond necklace. She seemed to notice this and quickly put a smile and held her hands in front of her. "I-I'm not going to do that again. You've made it pretty clear the last time I tried to do that."

"Good."

"Aniki, how did you get here?"

"I walked here."

"Oh... right... you can do that."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Did I hear right?" Zoro asked in disbelief. I slowly palmed my face again with my hand. I wanted this to be a surprise or at the very least a trumpcard of mine. "You walked over here? On top of the waters surface?"

I looked back at the now destroyed rocky hill in the middle of the see, then at the water and how far we were from said hill. The distance from there was about few kilometer, so it was obvious that I couldn't have just swimmed here all dry and not fatigued.

"Are you an idiot?" Luffy rudely pointed his finger at me.

"No, I'm a magician. I do tricks without permission." I stopped and thought about what I said, "Hey, that just rhymed. Maybe I should've become a rapper... or a magical rapper, a rapping wizard. Hell, I could be known as the: The Rhyming Sorcerer! That'd be boss."

"Shishishishi, you're weird. I like you." He jumped in front of me in excitement swirling around him. "Do some magic tricks!"

I was about to accept the request had Nami not interrupted us with a violent in her. "Now hold on a second!" She walked forward and pushed Luffy away to give me one of her heated gaze. I was un-affected by it because compared to Lisa-san, she was a amateur. The orange-haired girl went into a long rant about scurvy and vitamins and whatnot. I was a bit annoyed by getting accused for something I _tried_ to prevent from happening. At least the pirates here took care of him.

So I just ignored her and focused on Yosaku hallucinating but was still thankfully with us in this living, anime world. "Yosaku-kun, what did I say about vitamins and fruits?"

"T-That they a-a-are vi-vi-vital for out s-survival on the s-s-s-sea."

"And?"

"I'm s-so-sorry."

"And?"

"Y-Y-You wer-e-e right, you w-w-were looking after my well be-be-being and I-I-I didn't lis-listen."

"And?"

"Will you give the guy a rest?" Zoro shook his head, "The guy passed out from talking too much." I blinked and saw that Yosaku was indeed out cold for the moment. Luffy chuckled with mirth as he kept poking Yosaku's ribs and received pained moans from the near dead swordsman. Johnny didn't share his view of inflicting pain on his partner and a fight broke down until it was succesfully stopped by Nami bashing their heads together.

"You guys are hilarious!" I laughed and pushed myself off from the rail, letting the ottsel fall from my lap onto the deck. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm famished!"

"Easy for you to say," Usopp grumbled, "We don't have any food with the bottomless pit over here hogging all of by himself." He gave Luffy a small slap to the back of his head which wasn't even registered by the rubberman whose stomach growled at the mention of food. The captain of the Straw Hat pirates legs gave out and dropped to the wooden deck face first.

"MEEEESHIIII!"

I chuckled from Luffy's complaints about the lack of food here and taking it out on his crew. It was more funnier when his own crew beat the crap out of him by saying shit like that while in truth it was his own goddamn fault. I walked over to Luffy, now beaten to the ground, and unrolled the scroll on my back. He was curious, as were the other conscious people who stared at the odd ink desings I made myself. I held my hand out and chuckled at Luffy who stared to my now glowing azure hand with those glitter eyes of his. I slammed the glowing chakra hand in the middle of the seal array on the srcoll and surrounded us in a plume of white smoke. The people around coughed and glared by the cheap trick, but were amazed by the pizza ingredients that ''seemingly'' came out of nowhere.

"It looks like me and the kid here share the same thought," I chuckled when the words I said returned back to haunt me. "In this case, share the same stomach."

Luffy all but forgot about his hunger – if that was even possible – and stared at me again with those glittering eyes. "Wow! A real magician who pulled food from his hat!"

There were several sweatdrops by Luffy's statement. He of all people should've seen I summoned those from my scroll. "How did you do that?" Usopp asked, a bit fearful might I add. I was about to open my mouth to explain about pocket dimensions being able to inscribe into sheet of paper via blood, ink and chakra. It wasn't really that hard considering that I _live_ somewhere that isn't my home.

"Don't bother, Usopp." Nami glared at me. "He won't tell."

"Why not?" inquired Zoro as he was perplexed by the ''magic'' show.

"I am how you say; kind of a dick." I unrolled the scroll and picked up the stuff I summoned from inside the sealing scroll. "Straw hat, Long-nose, help Yosaku-kun here while I make us something to eat." Once the prospect of getting food entered the rubbermans head, he instanly picked up the ill bounty hunter and ran to the galley. I chuckled and went after the enthusiast Luffy to prepare the food of the Gods. The others shrugged their shoulders and set sail to the floating restaraunt:

The Baratie.

* * *

><p><strong>[To Be Continued]<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Fixed: 22.05.2012<strong>

**Leave a review and take care!**


	3. Anyone Up For Dessert?

**Chapter 3: Anyone Up For Dessert? **

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Nighttime, Ezekiel's POV]

Once everyone went to sleep, I stayed up because my insomnia wouldn't let me get a shut eye. Well, I _could_ sleep maybe up to once or twice every now and then, depending how much Chakra I waste.

Or how my illness is treating me.

I was currently sitting on Luffy's spot on top of Merrys head, meditating, focusing solely on my Chakra. Funny thing is that I can create a Chakra armour and change it depending on my available Element. I'm currently trying the Fire armour, who so far is a bust with the amount of Chakra it eats away. It's really a troublesome Jutsu and only use it in dire situation.

_"Daxter is now in the room with Yosaku since the guys still sick, Nami is in her own room and the guys on their bunks." _Ithough to myself for the uptenth time. I was just so damn bored!

"Didn't know that I'll see someone up this late." Came the unknown voice behind me

Without turning and still keeping the focus on my task I said, "I don't have much of a choice in that matter." I felt the persons aura of.. confusion, I clarified it. "Insomnia."

"I bet it feels like crap, not to sleep and all."

I chucled and replied, "I can sleep sometimes, but that's a rare luxury for me to enjoy." Opening my eyes and slightly turning my head, I saw Zoro leaning against the ship's rail close to the goats head and kept my focus back on the ocean. "It's something I decided to embrace instead of pushing it away."

"I see..."

"Tell me, is something bothering you?" I inquired.

"Not really..." Looking back at him with half-lidded eyes he chuckled. "Mentally preparing yourself for a sure ass-whooping. I'm sure you understand, I think."

"So, your aware of the up coming one-sided duel?" I asked, mildly suprised that Zoro, of all people _admits. _"But your still determined to challenge _him_, why?"

"Because I made a promise. A promise that I made to a friend of mine to become the World's Greatest Swordsman and with this katana.." Here he showed his white katana to the sea. "… I'll make it happen. Even if it is impossible, even if it is unreachable I'll go for it. _Even_... if I have to die doingso."

There was a small silence before a smirk escaped my lips. "Your determination is quite admirable, I presume you're here for a late night training?" After I got his attention I continued "How bout' a little spar. I have some wooden swords with me, so you won't get injured before your big fight." I joked with him.

"I heard from Johnny that you're a swordsman too." Zoro inquired.

"Hardly, I'm proficient with it, but I can't say that I'm a real swordsman, seeing that I have no style nor the ambition to be one. I just use it to stab people or as an intimidation factor."

He got of the railing and walked down to the main deck. "Well then let's see what you got."

I got up and followed him and summoned four wooden swords, one for me and three for him. As he put the third one in his mouth I said, "You'll wash that after this." Once he got on his Santoryu stance I remembered something. "You know let's make this a bit more intresting." Taking his raised eyebrow as a sign to proceed, I made one of the most overused Justus af all time.

"What are you doing?" Zoro said suprisingly clear with the wooden sword in his mouth.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clones)." After two poof of smoke flanking me, there stood pair of Ezekiel-clones.

"A Devil Fruit-user?" Was the tense question from Zoro.

"Not really..." Said one of the clones taking a stance.

"… let's just say that this is..." Continued the second clone taking a different stance.

"...completely out of this world." I finished as all there of us engaged the Three Swords Styler from every direction.

[Morning, General POV]

"Well that was exciting wasn't it, Zoro?" One of the clones asked to the exhausted pirate hunter. He didn't get a wink of sleep as Ezekiel was determined to get him in shape against Mihawk.

"Yeah, you did pretty good job covering those opening of yours, but there's still some work to do."

"C'mon, cut him some slack." The real one said with a slight remorse. "You don't miraculously turn into the Greatest Swordsman in one night, right?"

"I guess you're right." The both clones sighed and threw the wooden swords to the deck.

"Do you always have conversations with... yourself."' Asked a tired Zoro who was leaning against the mast.

"Only when I'm bored or lonely. Which is always." The real Ezekiel said.

"You have that talking rat of yours." Zoro pointed out.

"Who ya calling rat, pukehead!" Came a shout from Daxter that woke everyone up on the ship. He's always been like this. A conversation stopped of the highest degree.

"What's going on, is it morning already?" *grumble* "And I'm hungry." The future Pirate King said and slumped down on the ship's deck after his endless pit he calls his stomach demanded food.

As the whole crew made their way to the main deck, they noticed the three identical Ezekiel sitting in a circle and having a debate with each other.

"I'll call it the Chidori Rush and that's that. If someone has a problem with we'll settle it with a free-for-all fight." And if on cue, the clones and the real one started fighting each other. creating a dust cloud on the deck.

"Wohoo, a fight! I wanna fight too!" The rubber devil fruit-user exclaimed and jumper into the dust cloud. Mixing his own laughter with the curses.

**Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!**

The fight was stopped by Nami placing her fist in their heads, stopping the fight and dispelling the clones.

"What the hell was that supposed to be?" Nami asked him.

"When we were having a spar with Zoro, it ended with me arguing with myselves over our attacks new name." Ezekiel rubbed the swolled bumb on his head. It hurt, but he's got much worse punishement with his late master.

"Since when can you multiply?" The sharpshooter exclaimed. Looking at the Magician with slight fear, since it's not everyday you see people with even weirder abilities after another.

"Uhm, since I had access to my Chakra?" Ezekiel scratched his head.

"A what now?" This time it was Zoro who was confused beyond belief. He always thought after seeing Luffy's stretching ability that every weird thing is the Devil Fruit fault. But now that there's a third factor when it comes to power... he was unsure.

There was a long sigh, before Ezekiel told that everyone should make themselves comfortable, since it's gonna be a long story.

[Several hours and answered questions later, Ezekiel's POV]

"… and that's what Chakra is and can do. And no Luffy, I can't teach it to you, because your coils are already hardened and it will take too much time to even train you." I wiped the sweat gathered on my forehead and I saw the dazed, disbelieving and amazed looks on everyone. It's was Luffy – no surprise there – who stood up from his sitting position with a jolt and pointed a finger at me all the while grinning like an idiot.

"It's settled! You'll join my crew!"

_"Well about damn time he said that, but I can't let them think that I'll join just like that."_ I thought with a light scowl. Happens all the time when I think of a plan that will get people hurt._ "He needs to have a challenge. A challenge that builds his character from what it is now."_

He needs to fight over me and yes, that sounded corny, I know.

"Hmm... Fine, on one condition." I Flashed my Eyejutsu on him and smiled seeing him taking a step back not in fear but in amazement. "I want to see how you fight, so next time we see a scumbag of the seas, your job is to beat em' and I'll... evaluate your performance, Deal? If you pass, I'm yours, no homo." I Offered my hand to him to see if he takes the offer up. Luffy grinned grabbed my outstretched hand and pulled me up.

"Deal!" He shouted while grinning like a madman. "But what are those mysteryeyes you have? They are sooo cooool~!" Luffy complimented my red eyes with his usual glitter eye.

At this the orange ottsel climbed on my shoulder and looked at him with a serious expression. "It gives him the ability to eat your souls and make your life a a living hell for the rest of your miserable time on this plane!"And added with a spooky voice that made Usopp, Nami, Johnny and Yosaku scared about my eyes, Zoro a bit wary and Luffy's eyes sparkling more if that was possible.

I sighed with a shake of my head. "No, it doesn't do any of those." I corrected and began to stretch my muscles to get the strain of my insomnia off. "The first stage grants me the ability of a incredicle clarity of perception, allowing me to read subtle details like lip movements, facial expression and mimic something for example a pencil movements." I explained what I remembered about the Uchiha eyes. "As the Sharingan evolves, gaining a second tomoe – like the one your seeing now – gives me the ability to track fast-moving objects before giving me some amount of... predictive capabilities, allowing me to see the image of my attacker's next move from the slightest muscle tension in their body and counterattack or dodge them without any wasted movements." I finished with a sigh of a breath. _"__However, even though I may be able to see an attack or know it is coming, my body may not always have time to react."_

"…" There was a long silence after my speech. It was way too complicated that I was sure that it went right over their heads. Well, all but Nami since I remember Oda telling his fans that the orange-haired girl is the third – or was it second? – smartest character on East Blue.

"Cool, huh?" I deactivated them while looking at the small pirate crew and pirate hunter pair. They were shocked, that I can tell. It was like my expression when I heard that they'll release a new patch of Call of Duty.

"Absolutely!" Luffy grinned, now more than enthusiastic since the guy likes to have people on his ship. Which made me feel rather warm and fuzzy. He was always a good judge of character and now that I was in his good light, it made me smile knowing I might get accepted after all. "Yosh after I get to beat someone, well have magical-mystery eyes on our board! Full speed ahead to the floating restaraunt, Baratie!"

[Nearby Baratie]

"Ezek-kun," Nami asked me once the Captains cheering was over. She was silent and kept giving me questioning glances every now and then. She even said that name Lisa-san gave me all those months ago with the added suffix. "can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure, babe. Do ya need some _lovin'_?" Daxter inquired while staring at the navigators cleavage.

"Alone." A comical tick mark made its way to her forehead. I chuckled and watch how this'll end.

"Fine, but whatever you're about to do, use protection. One of him is enough, thank you very much." The ottsel ran away before the angry semi-ginger gets a hold of him and strangles him to death. A fitting death to him if you ask.

"God, why do you keep that rat with you?" Nami asked and crossed her arms under her chest. I didn't know whether I should be scared by her aproach or drool. I decided with the former as I _was_ raised to be polite.

"Because he's like me, we don't have anywhere else to go to." I replied with a shrug of my shoulder.

"What about the restaraunt in Lisnor?" Nami asked again and I had this feeling that this conversation will get more awkward if I don't find a proper excuse.

"It's not safe for me to lounge there anymore." I nodded. "And I'm here to fulfill my master's dying wish." I was still careful not to mention grandman here. She hated anime for no apparent reason.

"By becoming a pirate?" She inquired with a disbelieving look. "By living a life a criminal?"

_"You're one to talk." _I deadpanned. "It's a start I guess. Luffy seems like a nice guy so why not. Its not like he declares war with the World Goverment." I resisted the urge to chuckle because that's what Luffy _will_ do. Whether we like it or not, he'll make us regret joining his quest of piracy.

There was a brief silence between us, that is until Nami sighed and turned around. "Fine, do whatever you want." With that she walked inside the galley. I don't know much about women, but she looked a bit saddened. Did I break her? Women here are just as fragile as those in my world.

To be fair, these girls are much more resiliant.

I just shrugged and went to see what the guys are doing. "Yo, Luffy." I called out to the future Pirate King. "Wanna see a cool magic trick?"

"Sugoi! Oi, Usopp, Zoro, eveyone! Get over here, Ezekiel's gonna show us a Magic trick." Luffy shouted in glee. I saw that the guys stopped what they were doing and walked to the rail I leaned against.

Giving them some wanted posters I got from the bounty hunters, I said to them, "Okay, I want you, Luffy, to pick someone out of that and the rest you'll see." Luffy picked the first one gave me a wanted poster of Buggy the Clown _"It has to be him... fine."_ I mentally groaned."You guys ready?" Putting my hands in a seal and shouted Henge! (Transformation!) where I transformed into an exact replica of the Red nosed pirate. Sure I needed more details than the picture, but who could forget Buggy? I'm itching for the day where I get to dice and slice him.

"Gyahahaha!" I shouted Buggy's trademark laugh. "Today Straw Hat Luffy will be your end!" I made an exaggerated twirl and pointed my finger at Luffy with a menacing eyes.

"Hey, it's the Red nosed-ossan!" Luffy shouted with stars in his eye. I swear, that guy takes the meaning ''enjoy the little things in this world'' a bit too seriously.

"Who're you calling Red nose!" I yelled in that high pitched voice of the clown. It gave me the cold shoulders.

"He even sounds like him." Said the half-asleep swordsman who decided that now was a good time to sleep. And right in front of me too.

"Now witness me as I balance this sword in my big red nose!"

Moments later a marine ship aproached us and I dispelled my transformation. I knew that they meant trouble here, but my hands are now tied because they have to shoot the canonball at us so that Luffy will misdirect it to the restaraunt. Don't want anything to go wrong. I hate when a plan of my goes wrong.

[One cannon shot later]

"You finally did it Luffy, if you're lucky enough, the owner of the restaraunt will – _hopefully_ – forgive you. But honestly... I don't see that happening."

"But I didn't do it!" Luffy protested and gave me the puppy eyes. He was probably ''afraid'' he did something wrong and I won't join his ''awesome'' crew because of his folly.

Rolling my eyes I told him, "Fine, just..." But it was in vain as Luffy was dragged inside the floating restaraunt by a flock of angry cooks. "Maybe I should reconsider joining this crew. I mean, there are lots of those who _wanted_ me in their crew and believe it or not, had more IQ points than him."

"It's too late for that," Zoro said, now a bit awake. "once that rubber-brain sets something on his mind theres no way he'll back down. You really made an impact on his intrest."

"That idiot as our Captain... yeah, we're doomed" Exclamed a defeated Daxter on my shoulder. I still don't know what he does with his freetime. Usually he just eats and sleeps like a deranged cat, but now he does stuff, weird.

"Relax Dax, I'm sure there will be lots-of-lols on this ship." I assured him with a pat on the head.

"I'm sure that's not the only thing that's gonna happen here, eh?" He said as he looked over to Nami with a drool.

"Daxter, if your implying..." I said through gritted teeth. He was also annoying the crap out of me. That used to be his – and still is – his favorite passtime.

"Me? Imply something, _never_" Daxter feigned a mock hurt.

Now that our topic was the hot-headed Nami, she was trembling and holding a wanted poster of a saw-bladed fish man. _"Arlong, the guy will get what's coming to him."_

"You ok Nami-san?" I crouched down to see her more clearly. She had a blank face that betrayed her hatred for the picture.

It seems I snapped her out of her inner rage and looked at me. "I'm fine, it's nothing really." She tried to reassure me that she's fine, but I didn't buy that and decided not to pry too much. That would do me no good.

"If Nami-san says so, Nami-san is right" Walking to the restaraunt I yelled to the guys. "You guys coming or what?" We went to see if we can get something to eat. Something that's not a pizza. "I don't get it. You can't be bored with pizza, can you?"

[Inside Baratie]

"Can I help you?" A cook asked us as we made our way to the restaraunt. He was particularly looking at Daxter with disgust, which didn't go unnoticed by the both of us. I understod that no animals on the restaraunt, but he could have just asked instead of spamming that look I'm so fond of.

"Yes, table for 4 and a kid stool for the little one here." I began and tried to lift up this guys mood while ignoring the precursors glare from my shoulder.

"We don't serve rodents." The cook said with a french accent that I just noticed. I thought this was a japanese anime with japanese characters, but I suppose Oda can surprise us all with that.

"Who ya calling a rodent here!" Daxter shouted, startling the cook, but still regained his composure at not being intimidated by the talking rat.

"I'm sorry we don't serve _talking _rodents." Was the corrected answer from the cook with the narrow eyes and frilly whiskers.

"Forgive me about my friends outburst," I began and tried to be polite instead of humoros. "but I'm sure we can get into a decent compromise here, don't you think? I have 15 000 berries that says that the talking rodent can dine here." Placing the money on the counter the cook looked at it and his demeanor change a complete 180 degrees. Probably because he doesn't have to fight a bunch of pirates... for now.

"Well let me escort you to your table, our new waiter shall be with you in a moment." He smiled widely at us and left us with menus. I picked up a battered shrimp with vegetables and rice.

What? Can't a guy eat a healthy once in a while?

I set the menu aside and ignored Nami's rant about me speding money on the rodent. I didn't mind, if there's one thing I learned is that you can tune out people without being rude. Sounds impossible, but it's plausible. We were just sitting there, minding our business when a pirate dressed in red, blue and white with a red ribbon straw hat ''greeted'' us.

"Oi! Guys!"Luffy waved at our table with a mop and bucket of water.

"Hello Chore Boy" Nami greeted him with a sickly sweet smile. She seemed to enjoy seeing Luffy suffer like the rest of us.

"We were kinda hungry so we thought that a small meal wouldn't hurt." Though I wouldn't say _small. _The table was full of fancy dished where Usopp and Daxter were stuffing themselves full. "I heard you have to work for a year. That's a shame, I was looking forward on joining your crew."

It's either he completly ignored me or just didn't acknowledge me in the first place since he had his eyes on the food. "IT'S NOT FAIR GUYS! YOUR EATING WHILE I'M SLAVING HERE, THAT'S MEAN!" Shouted an outraged Luffy.

"Chore boy, quite over there." Our future cook yelled as he poured wine for a woman at the other table.

"Why shouldn't we enjoy our meal Luffy." Zoro said as he looked somewhere else and wasn't aware that Luffy dropped a booger in his glass of water. Nami and Usopps snickering didn't help Zoro to doubt that someone did something. "I mean, the foods not bad here." I was silently observing this, since it seems that Zoro was now aware that somethings fishy... or boogey, get it? "But I feel bad for you..." He took the glass of water and held it close to his mouth. The ottsel was grinning from ear to ear waiting for him to drink the contaminated water, Nami and Usopp were barely holding their laughter and I merely watched with mild intrests. "SO YOU DRINK IT!" Zoro forced the water down Luffys throat, with the booger and all.

"What'd you that for!" Luffy choked and coughed into his own nose crap.

"Hahahaha!" "Hehehe!" Came the holded laughter from both Nami and Usopp and I just smiled at the humorous scene. It reminded me of the first time I saw this scene.

Unfortunately for me – and perhaps others – the commontion grabbed the attention of our ship cooking douchbag.

Honestly? I don't hate Sanji, just don't like im'. I don't know why, but the guy reminds me of someone I used to hate back home. He even had that stupid blond hair-style. Well, not that I hate blonds, I hate _his_ kind of blonds. He was swooning over Nami, there was a new voice behind Sanji in the middle of his blabbering I ignored.

"Obstacles?" Zeff inquired as he appeared right next to our table. "That would be me wouldn't it?" I saw a man with the longest chef hat I've ever seen with a braided moustaches and a peg leg. I, of course adressed the man with his give title as the old man was so cool.

"Guys, looks like we have a real time celebrity here." I beamed in with the glittering eyes I copied from Luffy. "The Red-Legged Zeff. Didn't know I'll see such a famous ex-pirate here of all places. Thought you were dead." He turned and looked at me with a hint of curiousity.

"You know me?" He also had that gruff voice Smoker has. Must be a tobacco man too.

"Who wouldn't, the man who tainted his legs with the blood of his enemies. Truly artistic to say the least." When I had the attention of everyone on the table I continued. "It's a shame that you had to retire." I pouted since the old man reminded me of master. "To fight such an opponent would be... relieving." Flickering my Sharingas while looking at Sanji. "I wonder if you passed your teachings to someone?"

Sanji scoffed at that. "Like a freak like you can beat me."

I scowled at him. "You'd do well not to underestimate me, Ero-cook." Hearing snickers around the table he gritted his teeths. Obviously he doesn't like being insulted in front of ladies, so acting like I didn't notice his ire I countinued. "But what would you know... you obviously just kicked some weak ass pirates around here that you think everyone here are weak as you." I saw he was about to kick me, but since I had my Sharingas activated, I easily grabbed his leg, making Zeff raised an eyebrow of intrest. "Now that I have your leg, I can easily break it in 12 different ways making you live an excrusiating pain. Sure you know what pain is?" I channeled a bit of Lightning Chakra from my hand to his legs making him wince in pain and pulled his leg back where he dropped to one knee.

"What did you do?" Nami asked, a bit terrified by the small chakra control I displayed. It wasn't like I had a enormous reserve, just the right control to not waste too much and use high ranked jutsus without wasting chakra.

"Just a small surge of electricity from my coils, nothing life threatening, but enough to numb his leg for about 30 minutes." I shrugged nonchalantly, not really caring whether I burned his nerves into ashes.

"Shitty red-eyes" Snarled the cook.

"Well boo-hoo, toughen up in front of the lady ya puss." I fixed him with a glare.

"That's enough Sanji, whether you like it or not I won't allow you to attack customers again. Though I don't see that happening again, since you're not needed here." He looked back at me "And I won't have any troubles from this table, right?"

"Hai, Zeff-sama" Even though he's old, the guy's far from being weak. And my master forced me to respect elderly peoples lest he'll rises from the dead and re-educates me again. _"Anything but the re-education. That was like hell on earth."_

Sanji growled as he glared at Chef Zeff. "I'm the Assistant Head Chef, what do you mean I'm not needed?"

Zeff glared back and Sanji and started listing off his reasons, "You fight with the customers, you waste hours flirting with women, you're a lousy cook, and you're nothing but dead weight. The other cooks don't like you much either. Why don't you just become a pirate or whatever you please."

When the other cooks started snickering at him, Zeff continued. "Why don't you just get the hell outta here!"

"What's this crap" Started a furious Sanji. "I didn't do shit and now you're blowing your head off, old fart?" Zeff glared at Sanji. "I don't care about the rest of your excuses... But I'll never allow my cooking to be insulted! I don't care what the hell your're gonna say... I'm gonna stay right here as a chef!" Sanji grabbed Zeff by the collar. "If you don't like it, it's your problem!"

"HOW DARE YOU TOUCH YOUR OWN BOSS...!" The feared ex-pirate yelled as he swatted Sanjis hand and sent him flying towards our table. "YOU STUPID EGGPLANT!" Daxter saved some food with Usopp, Zoro, Nami and myself when Sanji crashed on our table.

I looked at the prone form of Sanji lying in our table and started poking him with a fork. "Excuse me Zeff-sama, this one here's is still raw and smells like cigars. I'd like to file a compain if you don't mind." I got a small chuckle from Nami and it somewhat made me glad I could do that since she rarely laughs.

Quickly regaining his composure and standing up, Sanji glared at Zeffs retreating back. "You can't kick me out! The second you kick the bucket I'll become the Head Chef here!"

"Then I won't die" Zeff told him and kept walking away. "I'll still live for another 100 years. And learn some manners like the customer who's obviously smarter than you." And with that went to the kitchen. "Act more like a chef, than a gentleman."

"Oh I'm sure he is. I bet he takes the dishes out of the sink before he pees in it." Elicting a small laughter at his expence.

[Moments later, General POV]

After the commotion the group finally got a new patch of dishes as a make-up. Though the Assistant Chef was still around the athmosphere was one of indifference. Food was more important.

"Forgive us..." Sanji began, but was interrupted by Ezekiel much to his dismay. His first impression on him was that he didn't like him. Sanji doesn't like competition, specially when it involves ladies he setted his eyes on.

"You meant: '_Forgive me_', weren't you Crippel?" The new name came to him by the numbed leg that Sanji's been dragging. Kudos to him for ignoring the annoyance that was Ezekiel. Sanji tried not to attack him as the tanned man would do something unpredictable. Which Sanji hated of course: unpredictable opponents were a bunch of pain in the ass.

Sanji coughed into his enclosed fist and continued from where he was interrupted. "Forgive _me_ the commotion" He apologized and placed a small cake in front of Nami. "As an apology I've ordered you a Fruit Macedonia, my Princess." He poured wine in Nami's empty glass. "And a glass of our sweetest wine as a digestive."

"Why thank you!" Nami said as she made a sweet smile. "You're so kind." She was just using his politeness to women for freebies as per her character.

"It's nothing" Replied the smoking cook who blushed and his visible eye to take the shape of a heart.

"What's this? You're not apologizing." Usopp shouted in outrage, not liking this situation any less than the other tables occupant. "Where's our desserts? That's not fair at all! I'll sue you, you love cook!" He got in front of Sanji with the thought that if something happens, Zoro will come to his rescue. If not... Ezekiel? He was scary and there was more to him than the eye meets. _"I better keep a closer look... walking on water..."_

"I've brought you all some tea, isn't that enough?" Sanji said as he was now face to face with the annoying long-nose poking his forehead. "You should thank me, long-nose"

"Picking a fight? I won't be easy on you!" Usopp answered in his tough image. "I ain't gonna take that from you!" And Usopp being the coward that he is, looked at Zoro for assistance. "Get im' Zoro!"

"Get im' yourself." Came the blunt reply from the swordsman as he drank his tea with a sweatdrop. Zoro was still unsure how he got into this, but he was sure that he wanted to relax after his training with the possibly new crewmate. Contrary to popural belief, Zoro was a lot more attentative than he lets on. For instance the way Ezekiel fought with his sword looked like a mixture of his own and something _very_ familiar. _"Either that or I'm imagining things. He did kicked me on the head for the lack of observation."_

"Um, Eze..." Usopp began, but was stopped by the small poof of smoke and where the meantioned Shinobi sat was a gorgeous black-haired woman with pale skin and big breasts wearing skimpy clothes. The sharpshooter was baffled that he'd do something like this. Doesn't he have any morals?

"Assistance Chef-kun~" As the future Straw Hat cook turned his head lazily at the woman sitting there who looked at him with a finger on her mouth and said, "Me and my friends didn't get any desserts, can we pretty please have some too?" Sanji's eye started to melt and instanly swooned over to her, forgetting the navigator who was at awe.

_"What is he?"_ She thought to herself. Ever since meeting Ezekiel, she was wondering if he was sane. He's way to enigmatic to be human yet has those emotion that makes him one. Those... ''magic tricks'' of his made an impact on Nami that instead of eating a Devil fruit, he _is_ the Devil himself. _"I don't understand anything anymore."_

Sanji took the hand of his mystery lady and crouched down on one knee. "Please forgive me my insolence, I will fetch you the finest cuisine this restaraunt has to offer for you and... your friends" The last part was said a bit reluclantly, but complied nonetheless. He doesn't want to look like a clown in front of this lady.

**POOF!**

A column of white smoke later. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Ezekiel laughed his ass off as he was slamming his hand on the table. "Oh my god that was fucking hilarious! The bastard can't say no to a lady even if his life depended on it!" He wiped the tear stain from the corner of his eye and gave a look at his future crewmates. "There's no one here that's fly as me."

"Absolutely flawless! This one goes for the records!" The orange ottsel exclamed, who was now rolling on the table due to his small size. About a year ago when he met the obsidian eyed teen, they were spamming pranks after pranks on everyone. He didn't know why he did that, but said that it has something to do with his stealth.

Wiping another small tear away from laughing the Chakra-user looked at the opportunist woman whilst grinning. "This game can be played by two people, Nami-san." And went back to laughing this time joined by the whole table.

When the cook came back with the dessert he looked around for the beutiful woman who sent him away to make desserts for her and her _friends_. That's till his eyes landed where she previously occupied. Narrowing his one visible eye he asked Ezekiel, "Where is she?"

"Where is who?" Was the reply and the feigned confusion would've earned him an oscar had he been back in his world.

"The Goddess who was sitting there" The anger in his voice was noticeable. Never has Sanji felt so embarrased because of one guy. _"I need to calm down. If I lose my cool now, the ladies here get the impression that I'm a clown, which is exactly what he wants."_

"Are you blind or what? I only see one and she's sitting over there" Ezekiel pointed to the blushing Nami who looked away and ate her dessert with closed eyes. She's used to attention, but not this types. Speacially from the scary hooded guy.

"Well guess I'll have to wait for her to return." Distributing the dessert to the guys, he looked around one more time. "Since I can't throw the desserts away, you'll have to eat them." And went back to swooning Nami, who now ignored him and started watching the prankster giving high-fives to Usopp and Daxter.

"A game mmm...? I can play one." Nami giggled and motioned for the cook to come closer. "Uhm..."

"Yes milady? Sanji with hearts in his usual heart-shaped eye.

"The food here's great, but... it's a bit expensive for me." Nami tried a different aproach by scratching Sanji under the chin while side glancing at the scowling Ezekiel.

"Of course, I won't make _you _pay..." Sanji mellowed on her touch. He looked like a dog who got a treat for bringing back the stick she threw a second ago.

A smirk crossed Nami's lips as she hugged him. "My hero!"

Turning to the other guys he growled. "You guys have to."

Zoro wasn't in the mood to pay so he gave a small nod to Ezekiel while Sanji was kicking Luffy and berated him from slacking off from his duties. Ezekiel set his hands in a seal which again created the small smoke getting the attention of the fuming cook.

"But Chef-kuun~" And in a instant the chef was beside the now confirmed and transformed Ezekiel. "Do we have to pay too, because I'm sure I can pay you_... other ways_" She fluttered her eyelashes with a small pout. _"I can see how Naruto likes to mindfuck people. It's funny and gives you all sorts of visions for close-ranged assasination. I guess it's true after all: a womans body is the most deadliest weapon in the world."_

Sanji stroked his/her hand, much to Ezekiel's dismay as he wasn't used people doing that. Speacially if it is the same gender. "Anything for you my Goddess."

Ezekiel whispered into his head which after few seconds made him lose his conscious once the stream of blood escaped his nose. Luffy was laughing the whole time while thinking about the fun he and his crew could have with him. He wasn't about to judge him about his weird quirks, because those are the one of many factors that made him want this guy on his ship.

"Shishishishi, that was awesome! I can't wait to have you joining my crew!" Yup, he could say he already liked him.

"Just prove yourself to be a skillful Captain and we have a deal." His possible nakama grinned and finished the dessert before the damned ottsel stole from him. "God, you're just as gluttony as... gluttony..."

"YOSH!" Luffy shouted with hands held high. That stunt gained quite a few eyes to their table. "The next bastard I see will get the living day lights in them!"

"You mean _out_ of them..." Usopp corrected who was happily eating his dessert. "Is there anything else you can do, Ezekiel-san?" He asked, wanting to know more about that chakra he mentioned earlier.

"The possibilities are endless and I've just scratched the surface."

"Are there any more?" Zoro inquired, but had to give a more detailed question as Ezekiel was confused by the odd way he put it. "I mean are there any more those people who can use... chakra." He was still unsure how to deal with that as the word ''chakra'' was new to him.

"I don't know." Ezekiel poked the strawberry on his plate. "Never met one..." He shook his head and tried to get rid of the thought that there might be others. With a barely hidden glint of humor in his eyes. Ezekiel looked at Nami with a smirk behind his black hoodie. "So, anymore challenges Nami-san?"

She was still laughing at the sight of the magician turning into a woman that made the harrasing pervert bleed from his nose. Not that she'll say it outloud since Nami was used to use people for her living shook her head with a light smile. "Not yet..."

"Bummer, I can do this for days on end."

"Ezekiel! Turn into me!" Luffy waved with a grin and walked toward his Nakama-to-be. Unfortunately he stomped right on Sanji's face, effectively waking him up from his land of perversion and unicorns. "Ara?"

**Bam!**

Kicking Luffy on top of the head and slamming his face onto the tea he was drinking. Sanji yelled at Luffy for incompetence. "Enough fooling around Chore Boy! Back to work!" He grabbed the rubberman and dragged him off, but not before glaring at the grinning prankster/magician who waved at him in a cheery manner.

[4 days later, Going Merry, Ezekiel's POV]

It has been now 4 days since the introduction of our future cook and Luffy still working as a Chore Boy. Humiliating Sanji has now become my official favorite passtime, partly because it made Nami laugh at him. Zoro and me were still sparring on the deck with Shadow Clones. Just had to remind him not to hit em too hard as they were fragile and cost too much chakra even with my control.

I stopped the small spar and gazed off to the distance as we were suddenly surrounded by mist. _"So it's today, eh?"_ I thought to myself as the giant pirate ship of 'Pirate Admiral' Don Krieg was visible with its usual flag of hourglasses and a skull telling their enemies that their time has ended.

"Seems we have guests today." Zoro said as he put the wooden swords to the side of the mast.

"Let's go see if something intresting will happen." I told him and sealed the wooden swords in a scroll where I then left them lying. _"Damn right it will happen and when it does..."_

"I wonder what they want." Was the sarcastic reply of the ex-pirate hunter. He didn't look like he was intrested in those run of the mill pirates.

As the ship made itself more visible the terror on the Going Merry increased starting from Usopp and Daxters freak-outs. Those two became passing friends seeing as they share the common trait of personality: cowardiness. Not that I blame them, if they were a outerdimensional being from the _real_ world then who knows. The might put up a good fight or two.

"This is horrible! We have to leave now!" A scared shout came from the long nosed sharpshooter.

"Aniki!" Johnny turned to Zoro. "Let's leave, we don't want to die!"

"No ones going anywhere. We can't leave Luffy... and besides, I need to watch him fight to evaluate his strenght." I pointed out with a narrow eyes. It wasn't everyday when I serious'd like this, but I really wanted on Luffy's crew.

"Why are you even doing that?" Nami asked me with a small glare.

"Can't have a weakling as my Captain can I?" I replied while looking at Krieg's ship. Once the mist cleared out, the ship looked like a floating piece of Sea King dung.. Ragged sails and everything was decorated with a large gashes on the huge rail. "Man, what a piece of sailing crap."

"The ships got a lot of beatings" Zoro said. "But it doesn't look like any human did that. A tornado maybe?"

"It's possible. It seems like another victim from the Grand Line." I muttered under my breath but it seemed like the Straw Hats heard me.

Zoro looked at me. "How'd you know?" I didn't reply him as I looked at the two people dragging themselves to the restaraunt. Those two were the start of this arc so I better get going.

[A little while later]

By now the whole lot of Krieg's skanks were starving and Sanji, being the good guy Greg, decided to charity them food only to be backhanded by Krieg. Why do I remember this much? It was one of my favorite scenes and made some notes on what I remember on my Iphone. I usually use my incredicle chakra control to charge the thing with lightning chakra. Pretty neat.

"I'll go see if Luffy's gonna fight." I made three Shadow Clones and gave them their orders. "Listen guys, I want you to get on that ship and retrieve ALL the money they have down to the last one. Got it?"

"Hai Oyabun!"

I gave them each a scroll and I said with a glare to them, "Once you located the money or other valuables, seal it into the scrolls, get out of there and place the scrolls in their ship's galley. After that hide it and disperse yourselves. And _no_ killing." Throwing the scrolls to each of them and saw the clones vanish in a shower of lighning.

"Well that's new" Nami made her voice sound for the first time today. "Where are you gonna hide the treasure?" I just smiled at her, not saying a word till she understod and turned around, but not before huffing with a glare.

"You know me too well Nami-san."

[Inside Baratie]

I made way back to the Baratie where my prediction came true as I just saw Sanji flying through the air courtesy of Krieg clotheslining him.

"Ouch, that's gonna leave a mark." Was my dull reply to the situation. I mean, _I_ don't wanna get hit by that. I'm still a human.

"S-Sanji!" One of the cooks yelled as the shrieks and terror ran through Baratie where men and women ran around in complete fear.

"You said you wouldn't hurt anyone Krieg-sama!" Gin started to protest. "You swore on your own life that you wouldn't hurt anyone if I led you here! That man saved both of our lives!" But all that rant went to deaf ears when suddenly Krieg grabbed his first mate's right shoulder and lifted him up from the floor. Gin yelled out in pain once Krieg squeezed his shoulder, probably dislocating his it.

"Gin!" Luffy shouted once he saw the pain in Gin's eye. Knowing him, he wouldn't let this get behind him.

Krieg looked around the restaraunt while thinking to himself. "Nice restaraunt" Was the 'Foul Player's' answer after a short while he shouted with maniac eyes. "I'll TAKE IT!"

"So that's how you came, eh?" Sanji chuckled with a trail of blood beginning from his mouth and ending on his suit.

[With the clones]

Back in Kriegs ship the three clones that were assigned to steal the place empty tried to formulate a plan to get there unnoticed.

"I'd say we kill them all." One of the clones said with a hint of bloodlust in his voice.

"Nah, let the boss handle it. He seems pretty agitated lately so theres no need for him to set his sights on us if he snaps." Another cloned reasoned.

"You're probably right."

"Guys, why don't we just walk the side of the ship unnoticed? No one would see or hear anything as we _are_ ninjas."

Apparently their creator forgot to pump enough Chakra for them to think properly. I pity really since the last time he did that people in Lisnor were thinking that a armada of pirates were attacking them. Not sure how that happened. Maybe they had their own Usopp there, who knows?

"Let's just get this over with. I wanna see Nami-sama change her clothes."

They all got a dreamy look in their eyes, but quickly shot them down and continued their work _"All in their good times, and Boss forgot to mention one of the Sharingas ability... photographic memory." _Was their last thought, before applying Chakra to their feet and walked the side of the ship unnoticed.

[Back in The Baratie, Ezekiel's POV]

After the momentary crisis, Sanji tried to bring more food for Krieg only for the other chefs to point their kitchen utensils at him. Instead of piercing him with those, he was rammed to the wooden floor by Patty. The blod guy was getting his ass handed to him.

Patty retrieved his weird lobster-shaped cannon launcher under the stairway and shot it towards Krieg. Once the dust cloud dispersed, he stood there completely unharmed. Understandably, Krieg got mad and shot everyone with his armor-thingy-that-can-shoot-people. Krieg being Krieg started to boast about his armor., but was slightly surprised when Zeff brought food and water for his men and the bastard still demanded more. One of them demands being the old mans logbook.

"FOOLS!" Shouted Krieg after the long murmurs of disagreements. "NO ONE CAN DEFY ME! YOU'VE SEEN THAT I'M THE STRONGEST OF ALL! I'll TAKE EVERYTHING FROM HERE, ASSEMBLE ANOTHER ARMADA, CAPTURE ONE PIECE AND BE THE RULER OF THE ENTIRE OCEAN!"

I noticed Luffy gritting his teeth and clenched his fist, "HOLD ON THERE, BUD!" Luffy interrupted the 'Terror of the ocean'. "_I'M_ GONNA BE THE KING OF PIRATES AND _MY CREW_ IS GONNA FIND ONE PIECE!"

I smirked at that. He even does have the guts to back all that up, we'll see how far it'll get him. Even I don't know if he _really_ finds it since the anime is still on going, so more adventures for me!

"Chore Boy! Stay out of this! He'll kill ya!" Exclaimed Patty in earnest consern.

"I can't do that." Luffy said, "Leaving things as they are. Its not how I roll."

"What did you say, boy?" Questioned an arrogant Krieg. "I pretend that I didn't hear that..."

"You don't have to. I'm just announcing the truth."

"This isn't a game, kid." Krieg snarled, his ego not prepared for Luffy bad mouthing him.

"You took those words right out of my mouth" Luffy quipped back.

"Do you want me to send you to the next world?"

"Time to fight, eh Luffy?" Inquired Zoro from up stairs. "I guess I'll have to lend you a hand."

Luffy turned his head to look at me, Zoro, Usopp and Daxter who was sitting on Usopps shoulder with the shoulder armour acting all brave and strong. _"Nami must have sent them away. It goes just like in the anime so far."_

"Zoro! Usopp! Ezekiel! Daxter! You guys dropped by!" Luffy blinked as he looked at all of us. "It's okay, just sit and watch."

"Oh, okay.. That's too bad then... if you don't need us, there's nothing we can do about it" Usopp quivered..

"Just don't come crying to us." Finished Daxter holding himself from falling from the shaking sharpshooter.

Krieg just looked at us and laughed. "HAHAHA, _are_ those your men? 3 guys and a talking rodent! A little thin isn't it?" Here Daxter scowled once more for being called a rodent.

"Wrong, I've got two more." Luffy said and held two fingers with proud.

"Hey, why do you keep counting me in?" Sanji yelled from the floor in outrage.

"That's right Luffy, you're still on probation. You better make this one hell of a fight if you want me in your crew. Last thing I need is a Captain that looses to a golden gorilla." I said smirking with eyes closed. "And besides, I've been looking forward to try out my new Jutsu of mine. Said to be able to pierce _anything_."

"Yeah!" Luffy nodded and pointed at me with a idiotic grin. "And that guy can even multiply up to thousands so I'm covered!" There where looks of awe, but I didn't see them since I facepalmed at the sheer stupid idea of me spamming clones.

"Don't be ridiculous Luffy, who do you think I am? Naruto?"

"Who?" Luffy tilted his head to the side.

"Nevermind." I deadpanned once the thought of Shinobis lacking here came to me.

Krieg was ignoring our little conversation as he hefted the sack of food on his shoulder. "For those who don't wish to die, you'd better not be here when I return. The only things I want is the logbook and this ship." When he was close to the exit he said, "However, if you really want to throw your lives away I'll have to go out of my way, but I'll be happy to send you to the bottom of the ocean!" Walking away he said one last time. "Keep that in mind."

"Ain't that nice, his generosity is _highly_ appreciable" I said with sarcasm clearly in my voice. _"What are the clones doing? Surely they would've be done by now?"_

[With the three stooges]

"So, that's the lock? Seems sturdy." Clone#3 said, who accidently got some Chakra to think rationally at an adequate level.

"So fucking what! Let's just smash it to pieces!"Clone#1 told them with a maniacal grin. He was the most homicidal of the three, who ''accidentally'' killed a pirate, because he breathed too much.

"Guys, I think the Boss' waiting for us to do our jobs, not to think." Clone#3 explained to the other two clones who were picking their noses.

"You just said that you think that the Boss said not to think" Was the reply of Clone#2 two. Needless to say, he was the dumbest of the lot, kinda like Curly Howard.

"Well the lock can be melted by a basic Katon, so get to work." Clone#3 prompted them.

"Who made you the boss?" snarled Clone#1, not liking to be pushed around like a rag doll.

"Fuck, not this again."

"Hey guys, what's this do?" Clone#2 inquired with a idiotic grin while holding a strange, purple orb that emanated a menacing aura that felt... wrong. The smartest of the clones widened his eyes. If that get's into the Boss'... he didn't want to think about it.

"SHIT! DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Clone#3 yelled, but the warning came too late as he vanished, with the strange sphere rolling on the ground. What no one didn't see was the shimmer of hatred and madness in the vanishing clones eyes.

[Back again in the Baratie]

After listening to Zeff's outburst and Sanji prostesting that he only fed them because he wanted to kill them with a clean conscience. _"Ain't that sweet, first he feeds them, then he kills them. Where have I heard this story before?" _

"Oh yeah, that's a _brilliant_ plan Sanji." Patty growled as he and many others just wanted to get this over as fast as possible.

"Zip it Shit-cooker" Sanji snapped.

"Didn't I tell you he was something?" Luffy told us with shining intrest.

"Who cares! Let's get out of here while we still can!" Replied, surprisingly, Daxter from Usopps shoulder. Those two seem to get along pretty well.

"Relax, they're wounded and starving. It's not like their any threat anyways" Zoro reasoned with him like he usually does with a scared kid. Not that he knows anything about it, but Zoro's like the nanny everyone wants on their home. Regardless if he carries three lethal katana with him.

"Besides, I've got to fight him so that we'll get the mystery-magic eyes as our nakama." Luffy punched his palm with his fist. "Krieg is a powerful rival and someone has to beat him a couple of notches down." As Luffy turned to Gin, I've got a headache from one of my clones memories.

Usually it wouldn't be that bad, but seeing what they did was enough to give me one bid headache. _"Note to self: Make the clones more intelligent." _When I heard my name being called I looked at the source and saw it was Daxter with those curious blue eyes.

"U kay' bub?" There was a hint of worry in his voice as he jumped on my shoulder.

"I'll be fine, no need for you to get soft on me." He didn't seem to buy it first, but let it go in the end and went back to Usopps shoulder. _"Knowing him, he's only sticking with Usopp, because his survival instincs now are higher than mine."_

Snapping back to reality I heard Gin ending his story. "… those eyes... they were like a hawk's... sharp and murderous... his gaze alone felt like the cold hand of death..." Here he shook his head, trying desperately erase the horrible memory.

"What did you say." I saw Zoros eyes wide from the mention of the flying predator bird.

"Ohohoho, so you guys met Hawk Eyes. What did you do piss him off?" I Received a look from Zeff, so I continued and not bother the old man telling us a story. "The fact that you guys saw his eyes, says to me that it was him. It does sounds like something he would do... well, _likes_ to do." I noticed Zoro gripping the stairs railing and shake like Usopp did not too long ago.

"Eh? You know the guy?" Luffy asked me, but before I was about to reply to his question, Zoro beat me to it.

"That's the man I've been looking for. I sailed across the oceans in search of him." Zoro replied, shaking with some emotion I deciphered as battlelust.

"Maybe he had some kind of crudge against you?" Sanji asked whilst lighting the cancer roll.

"Not that I know of." Gin answered.

"Maybe you guys dissed him mom?" I lazily asked sitting now crosslegged on a empty table with my hood pulled over my head giving a light menacing look.

"CUT THE CRAP! Why in the world would he destroy our fleet just for that?"

"Well, I know I would." I got some weird looks from the people arounf me "People kill for less, stuff like that happens everyday at the Grand Line."

Curious, Sanji asked me the question that I thought would run trough everyones mind by now. "And how do you know?"

Deciding to lie, since I can't tell I'm from the _actual _Earth, I made up an excuse. "Well I've been _born _in Grand Line, so that information is useful for survival."

"YOU WERE BORN IN THE GRAND LINE!" Everyone shouted in the Baratie except Daxter who knew to keep his mouth shut. Even the old man looked genuinely intrested.

I took a deep calming breath and sighed. _"Good thing I practiced this"_ I mentally chuckled. "Yes, it's really a violent, dangerous and blood saturated sea. The only thing driving people forward there is beyond me, whilst the ones that lost their sanity went into a killing spree. The madness that people are exposed to are way beyond inhumane and just to fullfil ones dreams you must be worthy to be accepted by the howling ocean, that constantly _craves_ for your blood." The fear was evident in here, just the look they directed at me was enough to make them flinch. _"God I love to do that." _

"You're k-ki-kidding r-right? I-it can't be that b-b-bad!" Patty yelled, now completely lost his confident.

I merely chuckled and looked at them with a huge demonic grin and the Sharingas spinning in both eyes. The sight would probably make even the Devil proud. "I wish I am. Oh, how I wish that it would all be a big bad dream, where you would wake up to find your mom there hugging you with a glass of warm milk and comforting words... BUT IT WASN'T!" I snapped at him. Then looked at Gin. "What kind of men are you to fear death. What are you afraid in the first place, that you just cease to exisist, to never see yourself to achieve the dream you always wanted! Heard! FELT in your hands before it vanished. I'll show you guys what you should _truly_ be afraid other than death."

"It's seems that you'd been exposed to some pretty deep shit." Zeff chuckled, probably not expecting this.

Looking back to him I turned my head slightly to the side like a kid would when they were looking at something with... curious, all the while maintaining the grin that felt like it would rip my head in two. "Hai, Zeff-sama. Of course, that just my home island. Nothing to worry about, people there are a bit emotional."

I don't know what came to be, but I if I wanted to join the Straw Hat I needed a background. This is what I could come up as I wasn't the most subtle person in this world... or the other one. Which ever comes first.

Usopp shook even more if that was possible. "J-j-just w-what kind of place d-d-did he co-come from?"

Zoro answered him before I had the chance to scare the crap out of him. "A place where people apparently threw away their humanity in order to survive."

The sharpshooter cried and looked at Luffy in panic. "Oi Luffy! Stop this right now! We can't go there!" We were all worried here about Luffy. He was unresponsive and looked down."Luffy?" No, reply. "Oi, Luffy you okay?"

"Gah! I'm so pumped up! I was hoping the Grand Line would be like this!" Luffy shouted in excitement.

_"Why am I not surprised?"_ I lightly shook my head. Should've known better.

"Can't you be more concerned about your safety?" Usopp yelled.

"But with all this talk, now my destination will really be the Grand Line." Luffy told him in that hyper-active voice of his that got me pumped.

Leaning against the wall Zoro continued. "That man... I can definitely meet him there."

"Are you morons" Sanji yelled. "You must be those kind who are eager to die."

"That may be true, but it ain't yo business cancer-lung." I sharply told him with narrowed eyes. "The second I've been born on that forsaken island I was already dead and as the saying goes, 'you can't die twice'."

"Same goes for me." Zoro nodded. "When I decided to become the Greatest Swordsman, I threw away the rest of my life. There are only handful of us that can proubly say their idiots."

"Me too! Me too!" Luffy cheered.

"As a man of the sea, same here!" Usopp answered bravely.

Suddenly, there was a loud warcry outside telling us that the Krieg's goons finished eating.

"I can hear them!"

"We wont let them through, 'coz this is _our_ restaraunt!" The resident cooks shouted with their weapons held high.

But then out of no where, Kriegs ships slipt in half! The whole big ass ship was sliced clean trough from two flanks! The ship started to sink the Baratie started to shake violently as everyone tried to keeping a hold onto something all the while staring at the sinking ship.

"Go hoist the anchor or we'll get pulled under with them!" Zeff yelled.

"Shit! Nami and the other guys are still there!" I said as I made my way outside. When we got there we heard a couple of familiar cries of 'Aniki' shouting around.

"Johnny! Yosaku! Where's the ship! Where's Nami!" Luffy asked hurriedly.

"Were sorry, Aniki! She left!" Yosaku cried!

"Nami-aneki she... she left and took all the treasures!"

"W-what did you say!" The current Straw Hat's yelled.

_"Shit, I forgot she leaves after this!" _I thought to myself under my facepalm.

Turning my head slightly to the waters in front of the restaraunt, I saw a small coffing boat with two giant candles lighted in green flames. In the boat was a man with a giant cross behind him, which infact is actually a his black sword.

"It's him..." Came the bewildered answer from Zeff and I could only nod at the sheer power the guy was emanating.

[Before the destruction of Kriegs ship, With the clones]

"About time he got out, at least you won't be as troublesome ash he was. God bless his soul." Clone#3 said with a sigh that the trouble maker was over. "But we still have to do our mission."

"Guess your right, what was that stuff anyway?" Clone#1 questioned

"I don't know, though it felt evil... wonder how it got here?"

"Should we seal it? Maybe Boss knows what to do with it."

"It would be wise, but be careful with it. We don't know anything about it."

Sealing the dark ball-like substance into Clone#2's scroll, they made their way to the treasure room which lied comfortably near the captain's quarter. They walked forward and came across a huge door with chains and a golden key in the middle. Clone#1 made couple of hand seals and channeled his left over fire elemental chakra on tip of his finger.

"Good hold it in the lock while I'll power it a with Wind Chakra." Now that they focused on their task, they melted the key and did what the Boss said: seal the gold and jewels.

[Back in the present, General POV]

"'… and that's what happened! We're sorry aniki!"

"God damnit! She took advantage of us!" Shouted an angry Zoro who punched the wall out of frustation. He was angry since betrayal is something the swordsman hates amongst many thing that are untrivial.

"That ship was given by Kaya!" Usopp yelled with the ottsel lumped on his shoulder who looked also a bit peeved that the hot woman left.

"Guys, I can still see the ship." The unofficial member told them while staring of to the distance with the fake Sharingans. He looked at Luffy and observed him. Not that he needed to do that since the serious captain was serious for once and barged orders around.

"You two still have your ship?" After the nod from the two hunters, Luffy continued. "You guys and Usopp go fetch Nami with the ship."

"Never mind." Zoro grumbled. "Just let it go. There's no need to chase _that _woman."

"I can't be without _her_ as my navigator!" Luffy protested. "She's the only one for that job."

A tense silence befalled between the Captain and his crew, while the other unofficial member kept his gaze at the disappearing Going Merry.

"Fine. What a pain-in-the-ass Captain..." Zoro sighed, gripping his head from the growing headache he was experiencing.

[Awhile later]

"Zoro-aniki, the ships ready!" Johnny shouted after he set the small boat read to go after the wayward navigator.

Zoro nodded and turned his head to his Captain. "So, what are you gonna do?"

"I haven't fully repaid this restaraunt yet, so I can't go now and besides... I still have to prove myself to Ezekiel and get a cook to our ship." Luffy cracked his knuckles like he usually does whenever he's about to pummel someone.

"Be careful. Things here are abnormal."

"And it will turn into even more abnormal." Ezekiel replied and jumped from his spot after the Going Merry was out of his sight.

"Yeah, I know." Luffy nodded.

"IT'S HIM! HAWK EYES IS HERE!"

"WHAT IS HE DOING HERE!" Various people yelled in panic at the sight of the most feared man in the world. His reputation alone would be enough to make few of these men wet themselves.

Zoro gulped down and sweatted a little. "That man... he's here."

"Zoro, who the heck is he?" Luffy asked, worried that the green-haired swordsman was acting like that.

"It's Dracule 'Hawk Eyes' Mihawk." Ezekiel tapped his katana in ready just incase. Ninjutsu or not, Mihawk could kill them all without batting an eyelash. "The guy that Zoro's looking for is here."

"Dude, the guy gives me the creeps." The cowarly ottsel said.

"The Worlds Strongest Swordsman..." Zoro muttered to himself in a silent mantra. His dream was so close, but it felt like it was vanishing right before his eyes once that _man_ laid his eyes on him. _"I promised... that I will be the best... I have to do this."_

"If he's a swordsman, then where is his sword?"

"His weapon's on his back." Ezekiel clarified and pointed at the Kokutō sword Mihawk was leaning on.

"NANIII!" Everyone including Zoro and Daxter shouted in disbelief. The only one who wasn't fazed was Zeff who rolled his eyes. _"Kids there days..."_

"Hai, he destroyed that huge ship with _that _sword. It's said that the sword's the best sword ever crafted by mortal hands."

At this point some random pirate started yelling at Hawk Eyes and shot at him with a rusty revolver. Bad mistake, as Mihawk just flipped the bullets away with the giant sword with one hand.

"I've never seen such a gracefull skill." Said a voice behind the pirate that shot Mihawk.

"A sword with power alone is not powerful." Mihawk said.

As the short talk with the two swordsmen were going on, Ezekiel made a giant leap to the ship and took a spot at the higher grounds to look at the upcoming match.

"Whoa! How did he do that?"

"That's not possible!"

The cooks and pirates yelling went to the deaf ears as the two swordsman's battle was about to begin in a moment.

"I've been sailing the seas to face you." Zoro said and grabbed the piece of cloth on his right bicep where he then tied it on his forehead.

"What is your mission?" Mihawk inquired with a small raised eyebrow of intrest.

"To be the best."

"Fool." Mihawk shrugged. "I heard you're here to kill time, eh? Let's have a duel shall we."

"That guy! It's the 'Three Swords' Roronoa Zoro!" A random pirate shouted.

"Pirate hunter, eh?" Krieg clarified more with a smirk thinking that he came for his head.

"Oi Luffy! Things are getting worse! The Going Merry is about to be gone from our sights!" Usopp reminded, but was ignored by his captain. "Hey, Luffy!"

"Duel? From such a pitiful weakling." Mihawk said coldly and vanished where he reappeared right in front of Zoro. "If you really were a fine swordsman, you should be able to judge the diffrence between our skills. Challenging me... Are you that brave? Or simply reckless?"

"This is for my own ambition and a promise to my fallen friend!" Zoro gently set the white katana on his mouth and resumed his Three-Sword style.

"A duel between Hawk Eyes versus Pirate Hunter Zoro. What kind of duel will it be?" Patty asked around.

"No one can win against Aniki!"

"Aniki's the best!" Johnny and Yosakku cheered.

Zoro stared at Mihawk, but his opponent wasn't staring at him. He didn't even give him a simple glance. _"What is he doing?"_ Zoro thought and followed his opponents gaze to one of the broken mast where his sparring partner was intently looking at them.

"You have intresting eyes..." Mihawk mused to himself and stared at those odd red eyes with two commas. "and the power you have is something I haven't seen in my lifetime. Tell me? Are you challenging me too? Since you obviously carry a sword in your person." He said, but was thinking about something else. _"That look... it's just like _his_. Could it be?"_

"Nah, it's not my place to steal someone elses dream." Ezekiel replied, still glaring and tapping his katana warily. "And no, I'm not a swordsman, more like a mix of something else."

"I see..." Turning his sight back to Zoro, he took out a small cross-necklace which revealed to be a hand sized Kogatana (Little backsword/Dagger).

"What is the meaning of this?" Zoro half-shouted at the small dagger. _"Does he think that I'm weak?"_

"Unlike those idiots who use their weapons to hunt rabbits. Eventhough you're famous enough to be called a swordsman, this is still the weakest of the four oceans, East Blue. Unfortunately, I'm carrying nothing smaller than this." Mihawk said lazily, not caring about Zoro's heated glare.

"Quit mocking me! Just don't regret when you die!" Zoro yelled and made a dash at Mihawk with the three swords.

"You're just a little kid who's yet to experience the _real _world'.' Mihawk said and took a formal stance with his small Kogatana.

[Many slashes later]

It has already been awhile when Zoro charged at Mihawk, only for him to block all three swords with his Kogatana. Zoro faltered few times and, as the duel continued he eventually grew tired. When Mihawk told Zoro was unworthy to be called a swordsman, Johnny and Yosaku tried to interfere only for Luffy to grab them and hold the both by their heads.

Zoro still showing his determination prepared his attack once again. Just as he was about to attack, Mihawk pierced the small dagger in his chest. Nearly impaling his heart. Showing his resolve that he won't back down from the promise and his lifetime goal, Mihawk acknowledges Zoro and asked his name.

"Roronoa Zoro! Remember that!" Zoro held his swords in an angle against each other and rotated them rapidly at the aproaching Mihawk. "Santoryu Ogi: Sanzen Sekai! (Three-Sword Style Secret Technique: Three Thousand Realms!)" Zoro slashed at Mihawk holding his own giant black sword in a wide arc. For the longest second, nothing happened until a gash was visible on his chest and his other two swords in his hands shattered like a fair of frozen glass shards. Accepting his defeat, the three sword styler sheated his remaining white katana and stood up in front of Mihawk holding his arms apart with the sword in hand.

"What now?" Mihawk was confused, he never saw his opponent do this.

"Attacking from behind is a shameless act among swordsmen" Zoro stated with a determined smirk. He knew he made a mistake of challenging that man in his current state and now he's going to pay for it. _"I'm sorry, Kuina."_

"Well said" With that said, Mihaw slashed the black sword across Zoro's chest, leaving him to drop to the waters in a heap of body and blood.

"Zoro!" "Aniki!" Luffy, Usopp, Johnny and Yosaku shouted at their fallen comrade.

"This is Grand Line's power?"

"Even the Pirate Hunter Zoro didn't stand a chance!" One of Krieg's pirates shouted in shock.

"Damn! Damn! DAMN IT!" Luffy gritted his teeth and prepared to lauch himself over to Mihawk with his outstreatched arm. The other two goofy bounty hunters went after Zoro to rescue him from drowning.

"What the hell is that?" Someone commented on Luffys stretching ability.

"That kid's got the ability of a Devil Fruit." Krieg explained.

As Luffy was about to crash onto Mihawk, the swordsman sidestepped the rubber rocket with ease. He looked at the two pirates, well, one pirate and one to be a pirate with critical eye. Mihawk noticed the older boy sword nearly unsheated with his right hand and the other holding a half hand sign.

"So you're the young swordsmans comrades? Thank you for watching over him" Once Luffy finally got his head out of the wooden rubbel, Mihawk added more. "Rest assure, that man's still alive."

"Was that really necessary?" Ezekiel said in a monotone voice that said he was not please how the older man handled the situation. Warlord or not, he won't take crap from no one.

Turning his sights from Zoro being hoisted over to the ship to be tended, Mihaw looked back at the dark-skinned 'swordsman' in the eyes behing the hoodie. Now that he was close, those eye _do_ look familiar.

"I was hoping you'd come here." Ezekiels frown turned from confusion to surprised when Mihawk said the next words. "May I see more of that power you hold?" Came the honest and curious words from the Black Sword user.

Tensing the Sharingan user replied to him, not sure how to take this. "I thought that a swordsmaster of your caliber doesn't request things, but takes them forcefully."

"Young man," Mihawk closed his eyes. "you must be confusing me to the lowlifes you've encountered on the ocean. I am merely trying to satisfy my own curiousity."

"I told you already I'm not a swordsman." He replied, still tense in the present of this guy.

"Well don't use the sword on your back then." Taking the widened eyes as a sign to elaborate, Mihawk continued. "I know you don't use swords, but something else that I can't put my mind to it. If you don't mind?" He took a stance with his black sword and glared at his second opponent/victim.

Sheating his sword back Ezekiel's replied with a grin. "Not at all!" He jumped far back while making strange hand signs and shouted. "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu)" Ezekiel exhaled a volley of small fireballs at Mihawk who was momentarily suprised, but got over it and deflected the fireballs at he unfortunate pirates.

"What the hell was that?" "He can spit fire?" "Is he a Devil fruit-user too?" Came the barrage of question from the pirates and cooks alike regarding the Ninjutsu-users skills.

"Intresting." Was the reply from Zeff looking at the young lad.

"Luffy! Get the hell out of there!" Shouted Daxter from Usopps shoulder who was attending slack jawed at Zoro with Johnny and Yosaku who held the same expression.

"I'm not done yet! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Shadow Clones Jutsu!)" Making 4 indentical copies of himself he barged orders to them. "Get into position and cover me!" And ran at Mihawk with two Kunais in both hands, before a loud shout of 'Hai'.

"Are you really attacking me with those pitiful knifes?" Exclaimed Mihawk as he swung his sword at him only to be blocked by the said knives he ridiculed. _"Intresting, even though I wasn't swinging it in full speed, he still managed to see it coming."_ The swordsman looked intently at the knives._ "They seem to be infused in something. I wonder if his red eyes has something to do with it?" _Was the thought from the intrigued swordsmaster.

"Fūton: Shinkūha! (Wind Release: Vacuum Blast!)" Came the shout of two clones above taking a deep breath and both exhaled, releasing a compressed small wind blades at the swordsman, succesfully breaking Mihawks inner musing and forcing him to vanish only reapper a little further away. The place where he occupied seconds ago was scarred beyond repair. Looking he saw that the one that blocked his swing vanished in a cloud of smoke from the attack. Without looking, the holder of the title of Greatest Swordsman sensed 2 'clones' running at him from his blindsides. Closing his eyes, and faster than an eye can detect, sliced the cloned leaving only another plume of smoked behind from both of them.

"Raiton: Jibashi! (Lightning Release: Earth Flash!)" Came a shout behind him. Turning his head behind, he saw a wave of sky-bluish elecricity running at him from the ground. Jumping high up and searching for the real one without result. He once again showed the years of hard work gained in his career, vanished and started slashing the remaining Ezekiel lookalike. Only for it to turn into white smoke as the last ones Mihawk slashed.

"Where is he?" "Surely he wasn't killed?" "He can control the elements?" "What in the world is he?"

Out of nowhere there was a familiar sound. The sound is only recognisable for those that frequently visits the forest. The sound of chirping birds. What was weird was that they were in the middle of the ocean and it sounded that one hundred... no, one _thousand_ birds were chirping all around. _"Where is he and what is that sound?" _Mihawk thought to himself.

As if called, the deck under Mihawk shattered in a shower of wooden pieces and water, revealing the non-Uchiha with a fist full of electricity that made the chirping noices.

"Chidori! (One Thousand Birds!)" And striking him with it and creating a dust cloud around them.

"Chore-Boy!" Shouted Sanji over the restaraunt entrance. "What the hell is happening? How does he do all of those and what is he?" Getting the attention from everyone, even from Krieg himself turned to the said rubbery pirate, who, needless to say, had stars in his eyes with mouth agape. Shaking it off he turned to Sanji, with a huge grin.

"He's gonna be my nakama and he's a Magician!"

"A MAGICIAN!" Shouted everyone in the vicinity.

"Surely that can't be magic seeing a those were real." Clarified Patty.

"Maybe he's the Devil? He did come from the darkest parts of the Grand Line." Exclaimed Zeff. Making everyone terrified that a devil was amongst them. "But that would be highly unlikely, since no mortal can stand up to a devil and Mihawk is no different."

"Awesome! Ezekiel-aniki is this strong!" Yosaku cheered, not believing that the good-hearted young man is even slightly related to the Devil.

"You said it, partner. Ezekiel-aniki would be a great addition to Zoro-anikis crew seeing that their both strong." Came from Johnny, who also thought on the same lines as his partner in bounty hunter and a long time friend.

"You guys are not scared at all? Those are some scary moves including his scary eyes." Was the reply from the long nose, still treating Zoro with shaking hands.

"Relax, the guy wouldn't hurt a fly if you don't get into his wrong side... word to the wise." Elaborated his orange side-kick from Usopps shoulder.

As the cloud of smoke was cleared away, it revealed Ezekiel still with the ball of electricity in his palm against Mihawks black swords flatside.

"Truly intresting ability you have there. Tell me, what's your mission?" Having a conversation with the now identified magician in the middle of the struggle.

"My mission is to live my life to the fullest and proctecting whats important to me!" Was the shout fueled with determination and promise that impressed Mihawk, just like with Zoro. Gripping his sword tighter he pushed the ball of electricity with the user, skidding him into the waters over deck.

"EZEKIEL!" "Magic-man!" Shouted Luffy, Usopp and the cooks at the same time. Afraid that it might be a devil fruit and he'll be sinking towards the bottom of the ocean.

*Splash!*

"NANI!" Shouted everyone in shock seeing the just now throwt Sharingan user _standing_ on top of the ocean.

"This can't be happening" "Am I dreaming?" "Maybe he's some kind of alien?"

Mihawk pointed his sword at Ezekiel, making him tense once more, only to raise both of his brows by the mans next action. Strapping his sword back in his... well, back.

"Thank you for froviding me with this entertainment. But answer me this again, why did you kept your distance from me? I can see that your also a close combat figher." Inguired Mihawk, studying the kid still standing on the ocean unmoving.

"Dueling someone of your caliber would be near suicide, so I asseset the situation, kept my distance and attacked where even you would least expect." Was the reply still being tense, but slightly more relaxed than before the duel began.

Zeff smirked at that. "Not only is he right, but also clever. No one would've suspected someone to just pop up from below and attack you."

"I hope to have a battle someday with you and the other kid. Live and be the greatest there is and when you have enough experience of the world and in general, seek for me." Declared Mihawk.

Zoro, who was awake and saw the short duel shouted to Luffy and apologized for embarrasing him. When the small convensation kept going on, Krieg started to boast that Mihawk came to claim his head. Only for Mihawk to say that he did that to kill time and giving Luffy the opportunity to fight the gorilla. Krieg, not taking things into to consider, started shooting Mihawk with his suit/armor-weapon-thing. Mihawk just ingored him and started to sail off, content. For now.

Sending the injured Zoro with the rest of the lot including Daxter, went to retrieve Nami. While Luffy and Ezekiel stayed at the Baratie.

After listening to Sanjis story about him and Zeff nearly starving to death in a giant rock-like island high from the ocean, was of course, unfortunate and something no one should experience. But after Zeff said that's just how life is and that he started to be a Head Chef of the Baratie to feed people and never seeing anyone hungry. Though all that was ruined when Krieg started to shout orders.

"Men! As long as we have that ship, we don't need to fear the Grand Line anymore! This is better than disguising as a marine ship or giving up by waving a white flag. That ship will make it easier to get near the enemy and make a raid. It's perfect for carrying out deceptive tactics."

"After looking at that ship, no one will ever imagine that it's full of pirates." A random pirate stated "But... but Don.. be reasonable. There's still that many cooks, the Devil Fruit-user and the Magician. We can't beat them if they have those guys with..." But never got to finish as Krieg shot him, killing him nearly instantly.

"What are you still afraid of? He obviously uses some kind of trick to do those. Do you think that a normal person can do those things just like that?" And talked about people with Devil Fruits are common in the Grand Line. That Mihawk, Luffy and Ezekiel are no different from the rest of the bunch. He also said that Zeff used strategies to confort them and wrote it in his logbook he has in his person. After a loud cheer the Krieg pirates were preparing to attack.

Luffy grabbed the railing and pulled himself back and shouted "Gomu Gomu no Rocket!" And launched himself at the pirates while shouting "Gomu Gomu no Skytche!" Effectively clotheslining bunch of them in to the ocean and grabbing a broken mast himself, so as to not fall to the ocean.

Making hand seals at the roof of the Baratie, Ezekiel took aim and called "Raiton: Kangekiha! (Lightning Release: Wave of Inspiration!) and sent a wave of electricity at the water to conjuct it to the downed pirates, knocking majority of them out cold.

"Way to go! Chore Boy! Magician!" Cheered the cooks at them.

"What... what the hell are they?" The other remaining pirates backed in fear.

"In the Grand Line, there are many of these kinds of people..." Said Sanji in bewilderment

"Sanji" Looking at the source of the voice who belonged to Zeff. "Watch carefully how they fight. Watch them until their battle is finished."

"They gave you food, but instead of thanking them you attacked the! You don't know how to be grateful! I'll send you ass to the sky!" Shouted Luffy from the mast he was hanging from.

"You've chosen to fight on the sea where there is nowhere to stand. I know people who possess the power of the Devil Fruit are afraid of the sea, boy." Laughed Krieg

"You don't see me afraid of the sea, ya armored gorilla!" Countered Ezekiel.

"Yeah, and I can stretch!"

There then seemed to be a small tremor going on, but quickly as it came it vanished, revealing a platform around the restaraunt under the sea for battle.

"Sugoi! That's so cool!" The rubber-man said slack jawed.

"Why don't we fight to our hearts content, pirates?" Exclaimed Sanji as he made his way to the platform.

"Oh, I see. So that the restaraunt won't be harmed. How convienient for us since we're going to take it. Now I want this ship even more." Said Krieg, impressed at the restaraunts capabilities.

Suddenly the fishes head came of from the boat, revealing Patty and Carne pedaling and shooting at the remains of the sinking ship. The two cook went to shoot Krieg, who stopped the canon with his hand and grabbed the giant pedaling fish. Hefting the whole thing up and throwing at the direction of the Baratie. Thankfully Sanji jumped high and kicked it away the thing away. Elicting small cheers from his fellow cooks. While Patty and Carne shouted at Sanji for destroying their ultimate weapon, some pirates then started to climb the platform and began to beat the cooks into the ground... or platform.

After finding their determination again, they fought again, until a man with shields covering his torso, hands and legs wearing a ball-thing on his head, started flicking people off.

"Iron Wall! Also know as Krieg pirate's Invincible Iron Wall Shield Man!" A Krieg pirate shouted.

"It is i, Pearl-san!" Came the girly voice of the giant shield-man.

When a pirate was about to take Pattys knife, he received a kick from Sanji. The pirate slammed into the other pirates behind him, where they eventually slammed into Pearls shield and knocked them out.

"He really knows how to kick. I'm definitely intrested in him too." Praised Luffy who was about to have two new nakamas joining his crew.

As the remaining pirates charged at Sanji, he kicked them all with a well placed kicks to their jaws while maintaining his darkened face. He then told them that he only fights with his legs and uses his hans to cook.

Pearl also boasted saying that he never lost a single drop of blood in a battle and that he's the strongest of the strong.

"Hey, Straw Hat! If you look somewhere else, you'll get hurt!" With that said Krieg threw a giant mace that was attached to chains at Luffy, who still held the mast and was sent straight at Pearl's head. Making him bleed from his nose. When that happened, his crew mates began to freak out about it.

"What's going on?" One of the remaining conscious cooks asked.

"This- this- this is dangerous." Began Pearls mutterings.

"Is he alright?" questioned Sanji a confused Sanji as Luffy showed his confusion by picking his nose.

"Something about the nose bleeding?"

Out of nowhere, Pearl began to ram his shields in his hands together. Making horrible banging noises. Even Kriegs orders to Pearl went to deaf ears as he started shouting that his hurt, and was suddenly engulfed by a bluish-whitish flames. Apparantly when the guy gets hurt or threatened he ignites himself on fire by instincs. When the fire started to sprout to the platfrom, Sanjis scowl was evident as he jumper over the fire and kicked Pearl through the fire only for said kick to be blocked by one of the shields.

"Fūton: Daitoppa! (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!)" Was the shout from Ezekiel from the Baraties roof, gaining the attention of the pirates and cooks alike. They only saw a brief moment of him swinging both his arms is a downward arc, before a giant gust waved passed them, distinguishing the flames on the platform and Pearls armor.

"W-what happening? My fire died down, how?" Came the fearful voice of Pearl before once again the familiar one thousand chirping birds was heard. There was a fast moving person that moved past Luffy and Sanji. They also heard the familiar calling of one of the so called 'Jutsu' used against Mihawk.

"Chidori!" With that the cackling ball of consertrated Lighning Chakra was rammed into Pearls Iron shield. Piercing it through his chest like a hot knife through butter.

The shock that went trough the area was, well shocking, as Ezekiels hand stuck in elbow lenght deep through Pearls chest.

With haggered breath Pearl said: "H-h-how? I'm indestructible, my shield can't be pierced."

"Too bad for you, since my attack was purposefully designed to pierce even the toughest metal. Apparently, Mihawk-sama's sword was enough to take the strike unlike this scrap of metal." Pulling his now blodied arm from the mans chest, he let himself fall to the ocean below, never to be seen again. When Ezekiel turned his head to the flinching pirates, he adressed them. "Anymore participants?" Showing his crimson arm to them and just to scare them more, he started to lick it off before spitting a glob of it out in disgust. "Yuck! B-negative. Not my type of blood." And what do you know, it worked. Making the pirates fall on their knees in fear.

"P-pearl-san is dead?" "He got through his Iron Wall." The 'fearsome' Krieg pirates said.

Krieg who was not disturbed by the sight of his fallen comrade said: "Every single time, I have to do it myseld in the end."

"Such destructive powers! I just gotta have you join my nakama!" Shouted Luffy in joy, not disturbed by the young mans antics for blood.

The shock was gone and replaced with a new one after hearing a small noticeable 'thud'. Looking at the entrance of the Baratie, they saw the Head Chef down in the ground with a gun aimed at his head. Seeing the holder of the said gun was noneother than Gin. Krieg pirates started jeering and to shoot him to avenge Pearl.

As Luffy made a nod to Ezekiel, who nodded back used Shunshin to vanish in a column of flames. Nearly making everyone piss their pants and the Devil-theory to return.

"You do your thing, Luffy!" Came the voice that disappeared seconds ago back in his first place at the broken mast of Kriegs mast.

What happened next was completely unexpected, because Luffy smashed the platform with one of his attacks. The shockwave was huge as a gigantic pillar of water shot high in the air, making the area momentarily rain.

"The platform is destroyed? That guy! Is he planning to destroy the ship?" Was the shouts from Krieg. "Gin! Blow the old mans head off!" Ordered Krieg, but Gin seemed to hesitate.

"But he's the one who gave us enough food to feed our men."

"Gin, Goddamnit!" Shouted Krieg in outrage at his firstmate.

"Hey, I wasn't fighting back at you." Pointed Luffy and turned his head at Krieg. "I only destroyed the platform."

"You bastard, Chore-boy! What are you trying to do?" Sanji said as he stod up and walked over to Luffy.

"I'm going to sink the ship" Luffy told him like it was a normal thing, making Ezekiel laugh at him whole-heartedly.

"Are you joking?" Everyone shouted at him through Ezekiels burst of laughter.

"Bastard! I thought you were gonna say something else! Are you for real, you shit!" Sanji snarled as he grabbed Luffy by his trademark red vest.

"But if I destroy the ship, they can't get what they want." Was the innocent reply to Sanjis question once again making the Ninjutsu-user laugh, but this time upside down from the mast.

As Sanji bareted Luffy about the importance of the Baratie, only for Luffy to swat his hand aside and grab him by his suit and berate him about what he said is not true. When Gin finally snapped back to reality he dropped the gun and walked away from the Head Chef. Krieg shouted something about betrayal, but Gin said that he won't kill the ones who saved them like a coward, instead of finish them of by his own hands. Patty and Carne checking to if the Zeff is alright, Luffy started to boast about his 'succesfull' plan like a certain nakama of his.

"Look! Did you see how my 'decoy strategy of threat' was?"

"Quit lying! Do you really want to destroy the ship?" Barked Sanji.

Gin said that he won't fight like a coward and told Sanji that he will kill him himself. He even thanked the three fighters around there.

"Not necessary, because I wont lose to a bunch of weaklings like you" Was the dull reply form Luffy. Angering Krieg pirates.

"We are the Don Kriegs pirates! The strongest in East Blue!" Shouted a random pirate from the rubble.

"Don't you mean, the one with the most people, ne Luffy?" This time it was Ezekiel, who Shunshin'd next to Luffy in the same way he went to the mast, before said rubber-mans rampage on the poor platform.

Taking the sing of the many gritted teeths as a sign to continue, Sanji said: "Looks like you hit em' where it hurts" Whilst smoking his cigar.

"Definitely" Nodded Luffy.

"We'll kill these guys ourselves!" Came the inevitable battlecry from the insulted Krieg pirates.

"Back off!" Shouted Don Krieg himself, getting curious glances from his men, he crossed his arms over his armored chest and continued. "When a man gets flustered because someone calls him weak, It's a proof that he recognizes he IS weak. Let the outcome determine the weak an the strong. I'm still here, so don't make a fuss" Said Krieg with a stern look to his men.

"Aye!" Came the reply to their leader/Captain.

When Gin was given the responsibility of killing the cook. Krieg looked at Luffy. "The rubber-man... leave him to me"

"I understand, Don Krieg" Assured Gin to his Captain.

While Donny yapped about his power that conquered East Blue told Luffy he ain't scared about the devil fruits-users. That those things mean nothing.

Luffy just stared back. "You never shut up. I want to kick your ass, because I get mystery-eyes to join me. That's it" Giving him a huge grin, he added "Shall we start now? You just wait right there for me"

"You arrogant piece of..." Snarled Donny.

Ezekiel turned walked lazily to the other pirates whistling a happy tune. "Guess I get to bath in your blood now" and added with a fake smile that said everythings gonna be alright.

When the battle between Sanji and Gin was already moving, Luffy started run at Krieg through the broken mast that has fallen to nearby. Leaving a pouting Ezekiel, who looked at the pirates.

"Guess I'll have to leave you guys alone" And turned to leave with hands in his pocket, for the sighing pirates. But not before saying "For now..." Making them gulp in fear.

[Baratie roof, Ezekiel's POV]

The battle between Luffy and Krieg started just like in the anime, except the part where he threw his trademark strawhat at me. I just putted it in my head and watched. Though the match between Sanji and Gin was slightly different, because me killing Pearl. They were evenly matched for now, until one of them makes a mistake that the other will take advantage of.

_"Didn't something bad happen when Gin shows signs of insuborbination?"_

What felt like was hours, was really a 50 min long _drawn_ fight with Sanji and Gin, where Gin got the upper hand. Just as he was about to smash Sanjis head into a paste he couldn't. The poor man couldn't kill the only man who has ever showed him even the tiniest amount of kindness. Unfortunately that wasn't enough to convince Krieg and took his left shoulder armor that was actually a launcher for a poison.

_"Oh! Now I remember" I _though to myself. Just like the damn anime so far with all the blabbering. Starting to get irritated. When Krieg shot the poisonous gas canon, I knew what I had to do. When the canon got closer, one of my Kage bunshins hiding submerged from the water kicked the ball of poison sky high where it released the purple smoke. Using the Great Breakthrough again and sent it away from the Baratie and looked at Krieg with annoyance.

"You! How dare you make a mocker out of me!" Shouted Krieg at me with hatred laced in his voice.

"Because that guy" I pointed to Luffy. "Still has complete our deal, by beating the ever loving crap out of you"

The cooks cheered at me and even Sanji gave me a apreciative nod. I just returned it and looked at them lazily.

"You arrogant bastard! You should've let Krieg-sama end my life" Gin shouted at me too, but there was a slight gratitude by the proclaimed Devil.

"End it yourself you little bitch" Was my deadpanned answer. "Now Luffy, get 'im"

"Yosh!"

As the time went by, the fight till now went just like in the anime. With Luffy saying something wise for a chance and Krieg getting his ass handed to him. Good thing my interferance till now didn't disturb much of the fight, except the wariness directed at me.

"Gomu Gomu no..." _"W-what? How much did I space out? Did I even spaced out?"_ I saw Luffy and Krieg high up in the air with a huge dust cloud below them. Stretching him both arms and slamming them into Kriegs cracked chestplate. Luffy Shouted "Bazooka!"

"Yeah!" "He's finished" "Way to go, Chore-boy!" Cheered the loud cooks from the ocean and pieces of rubbel surrouding them.

"It's not over yet, brat!" Krieg, one last time shot a net at Luffy, intent on dragging Luffy with himself into the ocean. When Luffy got caught in the net, he freed his hands and legs out of the net. Intertwining his legs together and grabbing a hold of his face, he spinned Krieg into one of the remaining platform and rammed his whole body whilst shouting "Gomu Gomu no Sledgehammer!"

When Don, was out done and Luffy still heading to the ocean below. I used Shunshin and grabbed him by the arm. He gave me another one of his stupid grins, putting the strawhat in its rightful place we made our way to Sanji and Zeff. Lying the tired Luffy onto the platform, he instantly fell asleep.

'I'm the strongest! It's me who won! No one can surpass my powers!" Apparently Luffys sledgehammer wasn't enough to knock him out wholly. His crew who surreunded said thought that he was uncounsious and started to hogpile him, so as to keep him from injuring more. Even with the brutal force Luffy slammed him into the rubble, he still got some strenght left to shake his crew of of him and repeating his mantra. Thank goodness that Gin made his way to him and punched him into the gut, this time effectively knocking him out. Hoisting him up on his shoulder, he started to wallk away slowly.

"Don. We've lost. Let's retreat and start all over again. Thanks for everything, Sanji-san" And started to talk about something that i've had no intention on listening and just meditated. After some moment I saw them already sailing with the cramped supply ship, while Luffy was still asleep.

[Going Merry, with Nami]

"Their really nice people. Next time we meet... I wonder if they'll let me join 'em again" Nami said to herself on her future nakamas ship. Mostly talking to herself. _"I wonder if I see __**him**__ again"_

Gripping the railing she was leaning, tears started to flow her eyes. "I don't know if he'll even give me a chance to, I mean..." She didn't know how to finish that sentence and hugged herself.

"I want just want to be free" Was her last words before more tears started to flood. "Bellemere-san!"

[Few hours later, General POV]

Zzzzzzzzz… zzzzzzzzz… zzzzzzz... SNORT!

Getting Luffy in a room to recuperate from his wounds and fatique. He abruptly woke up startled and shouted where his hat is. Throwing the hat from the ceiling of the room into Luffys head was Ezekiel, meditating upside down.

"You have got to teach me that, Ezekiel!" Was Luffys first words besides the incoherent mumbling about food in his sleep.

Opening his eyes and softly landing on the floor, he walked to the other side of the room leaning against the wall. "I can't force your Chakra points to open, without killing you. I'm not qualified in that area"

"Well, who is then?" Came the curious question from Sanji after Luffy hang his head down.

"Fuck do I know" Ezekiel shrugged.

"Where's Gin and the others?" Getting over his short lived depression, Luffy for once asked a smart question.

"Something along the line of you and him meeting someday on the Grand Line" Ezekiel answered question.

"Well then, since I kicked their ass, guess I'm off the hook with all the work around here" Smiled Luffy.

"Congratulation" Replied Sanji from the balcony over-looking the sea.

"I'll go downstairs to help the repairings. See ya" Ezekiel left via Shunshin, but this time in a swirl of a small gust.

[Somewhere in Baratie, with Ezekiel, Ezekiels POV]

Once I left the two to talk something about All-Blue. I saw Zeff leaning against the upper balcony, over-looking at Sanji and Luffys banters.

"He looks so damn happy" Zeff said, mostly because I was there walking next to him and doing the same.

"That he does"

"But he's still is a fool" Smirked Zeff.

"I can tell you want him out of here, why not give him a farewell present while you guys are at it" Noticing Zeffs slight attention to my annoucement, I talked slowly so as to not get the attention of the other two who were laughing whole-heartedly.

"I guess that would suit the brat" Chuckled Zeff.

[Chefs dininghall, General POV]

"Lunch time, boys!" Patty shouted to the cooks that were repairing the Baratie.

During the time the cooks were eating, Luffy, Ezekiel and Sanji made themselves present to the already dining cooks.

"Hey, where are we sitting?" Asked Sanji, noticing that there was no place for the three of them.

"Yeah, wheres our food?" Luffy pouted.

"We didn't save a seat for you" A random cook told them.

"Eat on the floor!" Another one laughed with mouth full of grub.

"No seat? How can that be? This is a restaraunt for crying out loud!" Exlaimed Sanji, a bit peeved at their behaviour. "Oh well..." That said he sat on the floor.

Luffy and Ezekiel went to the table to pick some food on their trays, while Ezekiel gave Zeff a nod without Luffy noticing.

"They're acting weird. Are they sick?" Luffy inquired.

"No, it's what they always do" Sanji enlightened him.

"Hey!" Patty suddenly shouted. "Who the hell made the soup this morning?"

"It's me! Me!" Sanji answered him happily, obviously thinking that he liked the soup. "Pretty good, eh? Today's is even more exceptional!"

"I could hardly swallow this piece of crap! It's only fit for pigs!" Said Patty in disgust, showing it by spitting on the floor.

Sanjis face darkened and stood up with his hands on his pockets. "You obviously never tasted _human_ food before, crappy cook"

"You're turning this awful cooking into an art form" Patty countered, getting the attention of the other cooks. "I'm about to puke!"

"Excuse me, but I'm very confident with what I made today" An angry Sanji said, walking over to Patty.

There was a short ruckus going around there till' the remaining cooks started to throwing insults and and spitting on the floor about the soup Sanji made.

"What're you bastards up to?" A furious Sanji shouted back.

"You're just a phony chef assistant. You've just been arounda while longer, that's all. We're sick and tired of you" Patty added once more.

Zeff, after sayin that their sea cooks and they can't waste a single drop of food, drank every single drop. What no one expected was for him to break the bowl that contained the soup in the floor. Adding more insult to his overall skills at cooking. After much ruckus and Zeff throwing a punch at Sanji, who ran away from the dininghall to outside and started trashing everything in his path.

Sanji who over-heard the real conversation, that they wanted him to experience the world and wanted to forcefully push him away understood.

"Hey kid!" Exclaimed Zeff, getting Luffy and Ezekiels attention who drank the now mentioned delicious food. "You mentioned that you needed a cook on your ship, ne? I'm not trying to force you or anything, but that li'l eggplant of ours, care to take him with you to the Grand Line?"

Luffy saying that he can't force Sanji to join him, unless he agrees to it himself.

"That would probably be the best" Said Zeff stroking his moustaches.

But out of nowhere there, through the wall bursted Sanji with a blue/white striped shark biting something green on his mouth.

"What is that?" Was Sanjis first question which after came dozens more, but it was Ezekiel that made the most wisest question.

"Yosaku? Is that you?" Well, depending on the situation. Though there was one of the two bounty hunter pair hanging from the sharks mouth, making pitiful noises. "Where's everyone? Where's Nami?"

After setting the 'poor' shark free, with Luffy shouting that we should grill it. Yosaku started to explain that if he thinks he like he does. Nami went to a very dangerous place, and asked Luffy and Ezekiels help. At the mention of the latter, Luffy perked up.

"Oi! Mystery-eyes, how did I do? Did I pass the test?" Asked Luffy.

"With flying colors" Adding with a huge grin. "I'm looking forward for the upcoming adventures, taicho"

"So, your really gonna join him, ne?" Asked Zeff.

"Hai, Zeff-sama. Luffys unlike anyone i've seen from these pests in Grand Line that asked me to join their crew" Ezekiel explained to the Head Chef.

"What kind of test did they had to do, aniki?" Was the curious question from the now patched up Yosaku.

"Some I had to summon clones to tell which one was real while none of the clones was real and some had to stand still with a bucket full of sea king drool for 3 days, where I just sneaked away" Making everyone exept Zeff and Luffy to facefault, while the latter just laughed.

"Why did you give Luffy the task to beat Krieg?" Asked Sanji from a rail.

"Well, he was the first to compliment my Sharingan, usually people say I'm a freak or other stupid bullshit" Shrugged Ezekiel.

"Yosh! Let's leave and get Nami and our ship!"

"Wait" Sanji said to the joyous Luffy, who had now a new nakama.

Stopping his antics for a moment, he looked at Sanji. Waiting him to continue. As Sanji asked Luffy if he too could be recruited in his journey to become The King of Pirates. Luffy agreed and Ezekiel welcomed him.

"Well well well, Ero-cook just want's to see more ladies on our journey, ne?" Wrapping his arm around Sanji with a well timed Shunshin he added more. "I think, that this is the beginning of something new. No homo, just stay away from me when you get your urges" Joked his senior of couple minutes in the Straw Hat crew.

"I'm not inrested in you!" Shouted Sanji.

"That was now, but..." Ezekiel, putting his and in a seal transformed into the same woman that he swooned over. "… you said that I was beatiful" Came the seductive voice, making Sanjis visible eye heart-shaped and swooning over to her.

A column of white smoke later. "Get yer filthy hands of me, Ero-cook!"

"Stop doing that!" Protested Sanji.

"Then get a grip of yourself, shitty-cook!" Ezekiel shouted back.

"What did you say, teme?" Snarled Sanji, while Luffy was just rolling on the floor at their antics.

As the curses, insult and other poof of smokes continued, the cooks gave us Sanjis boat to get to the next island. Luffy and Ezekiel went to the kitchen to restore some supplies to the ship while sealing some of them into Ezekiels wrist. Waiting at the ship the other three minus Sanji, who was taking his time on packing. Saying one last goodbye and thanking Zeff for everything the small group started to sail off.

"Let's go!" The Captain shouted to the skies.

"Until we meet again, you freakin' bastards!" Waved Sanji with both arms to the crying cooks.

"I'll start recommending you guys in Grand Line, just keep the place up 'til then!" Ezekiel shouted at the mast, also waving his goodbyes.

Zeff just smirked and adressed his cooks. "Alright men! You heard em', the customers are going to flood in soon, so get the place in shape! Get back to work!" Zeff barked.

**[To Be Continued]**

And that's how he wrote, an entire chapter of the Baratie arc. Though first I like to thanks my very first reviews. It was weird getting compliments from the things you write, since i've never much had one conserning literature.

I don't really know should I write the next arc also in one go, but that remains to be seen. So, more reviews, means more ego-boost for me and more stories for you. Hope you enjoyed.

One thing i'd like to add is that Mihawk IS stronger than Ezekiel, but he was just curious and last time I checked is that people don't kill someone if you want to find something out. And yes, Ezekiel will have a dark side, but that's until someday.

As I said before, there won't be god-modding, he will have his weaknesses and strong opponent in the next arc. The Chidori usually takes a fuck load of time to charge, so there was enough time to do it underwater. But why did it work underwater? Because fuck you that's why. Nah kidding it was held together by chakra, so it wouldn't go haywire. The other Chidori? There were 2 clones to do the lightning/wind combos.

Don't mind the bromances though, it will be just the average thing going on in the ship. Like insulting and other banana stuff. Another thing that puts me on edge is that in One Piece, the characters constantly sends death threats to others. So, why not kill Pearl? It's not like anyones gonna miss him. Right?

The spelling errors I'll try to fix later, before I lose all my ideas. If something confused you, I'm sorry, I'll try to explain the sometime.

The pairing will be with Nami, depending on my moodswings lately. Will I make it one-sided or not. PM me or what ever you sick people do to communicate.

Until next time, suckers! I'm out!


	4. Too Much Interventions?

**Chapter 4: Too Much Interventions?**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[On the ship with Luffy, Yosaku, Sanji and Ezekiel, General POV]

''Hey Yosaku, we're almost there, right?'' Said Luffy as he sat down in front Yosaku. ''The island where Nami is at?''

''You're too naive! Way too naive! Don't you get it, we're getting closer and closer to Arlong's base!'' Shouted Yosaku, who pointed at Luffy accusingly. ''Before the bastard Fullbody attacked us and Johnny threw the wanted poster, Nami-aneki's eyes were studying Arlong's poster. Things aren't as simple as they seem!'' He gripped his knees and continued. ''Nami-aneki wants to take that 20 million beli that's on Arlong's head. While we're taking it easy here, she could, for all we know, have already snuck into Arlong's base!''

''Hahahaha! It's about time for lunch, don't you think?'' Luffy conversed with the new shipcook about the dinner.

Yosaku shrieked and stood up. ''Don't tell me you've never heard of Arlong?''

''Arlong? Who's that?'' Guestioned Sanji.

''Isn't he the guy who currently holds the highest bounty in East Blue? The fishy-faces group and all?'' Came another of guestion from yet another new member of the Straw Hats.

''H-how do you know him?'' Yosaku asked, surprised.

''Well i've met one of his flunkies who attacked me, because they're race was superior to mine. Damn racist got on my nerve'' Muttered Ezekiel. ''The guy is probably still missing his eye''

''You fought one?'' Luffy guestioned. ''Are they strong?''

''It's been said that their 10 times stronger than humans, but the one i fought was just a arrongant prick with muscles and no brain. I bet there are stronger'' Shrugged Ezekiel.

''What do you know about them'' Sanji asked, as he lighted a smoke.

''They usually reside in the Grand Line, but few being here is beyond me. They don't like humans, since they see themselves as the higher race. Fishmen are really some ugly creatures, but i think that goes for an eye-to-eye on both sides'' Ezekiel explained to his two nakamas.

''Come to think of it, i've heard that there's a merman island at the Grand Line. And that there are lots of gorgerous mermaids there'' Sanji said with a heart in his eye.

''Those fishmen... do they look anything like this?'' Luffy, who picked pencil and papers out of nowhere, started to draw a fish with 4 reversed paws. Making Sanji laugh at the stupid picture.

''Give me dat'' Ezekiel said and took the art utensils where he drew a picture of real fishmen with a realistic scowl on it's.

''Sugoi! Your really good at that!'' Grinned Luffy

''Why thank you, it means a lot to me'' Smiled Ezekiel.

''Can you guys get serious here!'' Shouted the frustated Yosaku who was constantly ignored in the small group. As he got the attention of them all, he started talking more about the Grand Line and all the like. Ezekiel though jumped to the roof of the ship, said that he goes to a nap because he already knows about Arlong and Grand Line enough.

[Same ship, Ezekiel's POV]

_''Finally tired, i guess i shoult spend more Chakra. My stamina has been slowly increasing, but not enough. There are so many flaws in my Jutsus that it's not even funny. How can i protect my nakamas if i'm so weak. Well, training of course, but what if it isn't enough? I know damn well that Mihawk-sama was toying around and he could've easily kill me the second i made the first seal. So that's a room to improve, for now. I also can't rely on my Sharingas all the time... so much to do, so little time._

With that my eyes closed down and fell to the warm embrace of the dream-Queen.

Flashback

''Have a nice day good sir!'' And added a sweet smile to the customer. _''Another done, another to go''_ I was sitting at the counter of the Cloud restaraunt serving the customers at the usual rush hour. It was now 2 months since the restaraunt has been renovated and there were couple rookie pirates making trouble, but it wasn't really much. Just a bunch of smelly pirates who think that their the new shit. Well, they are now after i was done with them. My reputation has grown more over the island and beyond it, where people started asking me to join their crew, like the one right now.

''C'mon, i heard your the real deal here, a top fighter! Imagine the reputation we'll get, the money and women! You just have to!'' A brown-haired, tanned man, barely older than 26 asken me. He was wearing black pants with brown sailor boots and a long white leather jacket bare chested.

''I'm sorry, but i have to decline your generous offer'' I smiled, not to sound too rude and the mans personality was funny.

''Captain, are you ready yet?'' Asked a pretty attractive white-haired woman about my age, give or take a few.

''In a second, Mary. I'm still trying to convince this lad to join us, just let me concentrate on the task here'' He turned back to me. ''What do i have to do, to have you join my crew?''

''Leaving would be a good start'' Was my reply, but the usual gentle smile was now change into one of indifference.

''What's so good about the brat there. He doesn't look special'' She looked at me up and down, or whats left to look at me behind the counter.

''And there's another reason, underestimating people will get you killed'' Was my still indifference reply.

She scowled at me. ''Do you want your ass-kicked?''

''By who? I don't see any who could'' By now the attention in the restaraunt was at the both of us.

''What did you say, you punk!'' And recklessly charged at me, but was stopped by her captain. Or i think it was her captain.

''Mary, that's enough. Listen buddy, you either join me or there will be trouble'' He seemed to take a step back by my frown.

''Is that a threat?''

''No, a promise'' Sneered Mary at me.

Getting out of the counter i walked started to walk out. ''If you want a fight i would like you to do it outside''

As we were outside, the customers started to scrambling out. Probably to see the coming fight of their village savior. There was a huge ring around us to move.

''Ezekiel-san is going to fight them?'' ''Those punks don't know what they got themselves into'' ''I wonder if he uses one of those cool tricks of his''

''Are you ready?'' I asked with my usual monotone.

''As i'll ever be!'' And she charged. Not one to underestimate an opponent i activated my Sharingans and swatted her punch away. Using her momentum from the failed punch, she was about to round-house kick me. Ducking from the kick and leaving me behind her i grabbed her arm, held it behind her back and summoned a knife that i held against her neck. _''Looks like all those self-defences paid off''_

''Your dead'' Removing the knife from her neck and pushed her away, the anger in her seemed to leave.

''Your good, he'll make a great addition'' She smirked and winked at me. _''Women and their bipolars, i swear''_

''See, i told you. Come on lad, join me, it'll be fun'' The captain said again, not giving up yet.

''If you'll join, we can have more of that _fun _on our ship'' Mary said sultry.

''I'm sorry, but i already made up my mind. Please refraine from causing troble'' Bowing i left them standing there.

''Fine, you don't know what your missing'' Huffed the white-haired woman and left the scene.

''I can respect that, but if you do change your mind. Seek for me and we'll have lots of adventures'' The captain smiled.

''I'll give it a thought'' _''Highly unlikely''_

''Take care'' And waved of.

*sigh* After i sighed it was back to work.

[6 months later]

Damn bandit, pirates and other holigans. The more they come and beat them within inch of their lives for the marines to fetch, the more famous i get. It's was now 6 months before the happy captain and the bipolar woman came. 2 months after Nami visited and another 2 months for Luffys to leave Fuschia village. How did i get into this kind of mess now is beyond me. I've been asked to join the Baroques Work, by noneother than Ms. Sunday or my future-crews 6th member, Robin. Honestly? I don't hate her. If there would be a fine line between like and dislike, mine would be in the middle and fastly aproaching the dislike area.

It was my vacation once again and i was just training in my usual way with Katon Jutsus blasted into the sky. When a voice came behind me.

''My, what an intresting ability. Mind if you show me more?'' Turning my head i saw her sitting on a tree-stump i usually use as a desk for my pathetic attempts of Fuuinjutsus, wearing her usual cow-girl styled outfit and a smile. It was a fake smile, which made me give my own.

''As a matter of fact, yes. I do mind you spying on me so would _you_ mind _leaving,_ for me to train alone?''

Not one to give up, she continued. ''I'm sure you'd like to hear a proposition from my boss''

''Not really'' I was starting to get irritated at stubborn people. ''You can tell your boss to go fuck himself''

''That's not nice, i'm sure we can come into an..._agreement_'' She started to slowly unzip her jacket revealing her breast, making Daxter climb into my shoulder to get a better look at her.

''Woman, your starting to get on my nerves'' I said with a tick mark on my forehead. _''And they say we men are perverts''_

''Forgive me, it's just my boss doesn't like being rejected, twice in a row no less'' Still with a fake smile added with slight amusement.

''Well then. Tell the spoiled brat that you can't get everything you want'' My own fake smile gone and changed into one of irritation.

''But if you do change your mind...'' She threw a card at me and which i caught it with my index and middle finger, setting it in flames.

''I won't'' Was the short reply.

''A shame, i do hope we meet again'' She stood up and walked away.

''Believe me, we do'' I muttered.

''If you reject one more woman, i'll start pegging you as a faggot'' Was Daxters angry reply. ''You got to get laid someday, man. There shoulder here is too tense for to stand.''

''Hn'' Came the typical Uchiha mutter for things you don't usually want to answer. ''Let's leave, i'm hungry''

''What ever you say, boss man'' That said Daxter took a hold of my shirt and Shunshin'd away from the scenery.

|End flashback|

[Guys in the ship, General POV]

''Oi! Ezekiel!'' Shouted Sanji, kicking the other pirate up.

''W-what?'' Looking up he saw a bit irritated Sanji. ''What now you sick pervert! I was sleeping, something i don't do often!'' He wasn't angry, just pissed but not angry.

''Do i look like i care? Lunch is ready so eat'' With that said, he walked back to Luffy who was eating like a barbarian while Yosaku just enjoyed his fried beans,

''I swear when _you _go to sleep i will mu...'' Ezekiels threat was cut of by Luffy with mouth full of meat.

''Eshkshiel dshi meash ish delshishoush!'' Came the incoherrent words from the stuffed captain.

''Well maybe not murder him, but maim him... sounds cool?'' Was the random reply from Ezekiel.

*glup* ''No, i said that the meat is delicious. Come, have some''

''Sure'' Shrugged Ezekiel and started eating the meat in silence.

''You okay, Ezekiel-aniki?'' Snapping out of his inner thoughts the mentioned Straw Hat pirate looked at Yosaku guestioningly. ''You spaced out on us, thought you were sick or something''

The guy couldn't help it and started to laugh. ''Hahaha! I'm fine, i'm fiine... just thinking about something new i could add to my arsenal'' Ezekiel grinned.

''Did you come up with something cool mystery-magic?'' Luffy jumped and ran in front of his face excited.

''Well not any regarding Ninjutsus, but a way to up my control over one'' Explained Ezekiel.

''Nani? You already can do those cool stuff perfectly, why do you need to control it more?'' Luffy asked, not really understanding.

''Every time i use a Jutsu it takes away some amount of Chakra, dependin how much i put it in or what rank it is classified at. Now using one takes a toll out of me, but adding control i can reduce the amount i put AND make it more powerful without any unnecessary losses'' Explained Ezekiel, with determination that he will succeed in his training.

''How will you do that?'' Now it was Sanji who asked. Mostly out of curiousity,

''I need to buy some materials first, but all in due time'' Was the short reply.

Chatting and overall waiting for the next island to be seen, there was a sinking feeling in Ezekiel's stomach. ''Guys, do you feel that?''

''Feel what?'' Asked Luffy, not reducing his tempo savaging the meat.

''There was a slight tremor, i could barely feel it... but it was enough to make me feel uncomfortable'' Ezekiel announced.

''Maybe it's the food?'' Yosaku said.

''There nothing wrong with my cooking!'' Protested the ships cook.

''Just forget it, i guess it was nothing'' Ezekiel gave up.

''These are extremely good, cook-aniki'' Yosaku muched happily with every bite.

Swirling his wine in one hand to probably increase the flavor Sanji said. ''I don't care much about your opinions. I just want to be able to cook for Nami-san as soon as possible'' And chucked the wine down his throat.

''And i can't wait to make you look like a fool in front of her'' Came the indifferent counter to Sanjis short-lived coolness.

''It'd be great if we can all dine together again. Hopefully, along with Nami-aneki'' Yosaku smiled at the prospect of eating more of the delicious food with his friends.

''We definitely will, 'coz she's our navigator'' Luffy said while muching on the now cleanly eaten bone. ''She'll be going to the Grand Line with us!''

Moments later and Luffy and Yosaku began to fighting over the last chunk of meat while rocking the ship. Sanji berated them about not running around the ship lest the expensive wine spills over and Ezekiel looked below the sea.

''Hey, guys. Quit down a bit will ya?'' He answered, keeping his eyes close to the ocean.

''What is it?'' Luffy asked.

''Something seems to be below us. Something big'' Came the careful voice.

And just like in every anime, if you start to describe something, they'll rise from the ocean/earth/something-else, like in the movies. When the creature from the underwaters revealed itself, it was a giant green cow thing with fins, horns and a golden nose piercing.

''Is that a...'' Ezekiel started.

''A cow! It's humungous!'' Luffy explained, or it seemed he did.

''A cow? Swimming? It's more like a hippo and a pretty damn ugly one at that'' Finished Sanji.

''Well i was about to say a sea-cow, but you guys were close too'' Deadpanned Ezekiel.

''But, why is that thing here in East Blue? Those beasts belong to the Grand Line!'' Yosaku shrieked in fear at the presence of the giant sea-cow.

''I guess it's probably one of Arlongs pets'' Deducted Ezekiel.

''You might be right'' Sanji added.

When the sea-cow took a closer look, Yosaku noticed that it was staring at their dinner and said that we should just give it to the beast only for Luffy to sock it in it's head. Sanji showing some pity at the creature offered it a dish, only for him to repeat what Luffy did, except he gave a strong kick to the thing chin.

''What are you doing? Where's the love?'' Yosaku shouted.

''The thing was gonna feed on me as well'' Replied Sanji, lighting a smoke.

Suddenly the the sea-cow went berserk and was about to devour the group, when Sanji gave it another devastating kick on the poor creatures neck. Knocking it out cold and went back to the dinner table with the other two while Yosaku muttered about crazy streching, kicking and Ninjutsu using powerhouses.

A sudden brain-storm later, the other half of the Straw Hat pirates strapped a rope around the sea-cows horn to gain more speed. Ezekiel was just as usually meditating, but now on the cows head. Hearing Luffy shout he expelled some lightning Chakra to the creatures head to attain more speed.

[Hours Later]

''Hey! Don't get tired on me now!'' Shouted Luffy at the sea-cow. ''Ezekiel, more juice!''

''I'm already putting enough without killing the poor bastard!'' Ezekiel replied with his hand on the swimming cows head.

''Well it has to be tired, because you guys beated it'' Pointed Yosaku out with his hand on his chin.

At this point the sea-cow was disorientated and turned right from Arlong Park, heading straight into the side of a land. As the creature slammed his head into the land, the ship was sent flying high into the air. Ezekiel jumped right before the beasts slammed his head and landed on the ship, shouting in excitement.

''Fucking great! This beats all the other water parks i've ever been to!'' Ezekiel helded his hand in the air.

''It's just like flying in the sky!'' Was Luffys equally excited shout.

''It's not _like!_'' Sanji protested, not really sharing or even understand those two idiots.

''It's REALLY flying you...!'' But was interrupted by Yosaku.

''We're falling!'' And indeed they were, completely unaware where and whom they gonna land.

''Landing complete! HAHAHA!'' Luffy shouted from the ships bowsprit. ''Yo! Zoro!'' You guessed it, the lost swordsman was in their direction and dragged him with them across the rice fields, heading straight into a cliff.

''We've arrived. We've arrived'' Luffy said patting his trademark straw hat to get rid of the dust.

''That WAS awesome! Let's do it again!'' Ezekiel shouted from the cliff hanging there with Chakra on his feet and looking down at the remains of the ship.

''You bastard... what the heck are you doing?'' Shouted an enraged Zoro, throwing the planks and other ship parts off himself.

''Oh you know, where were nearby and generous as we are thought that you might need a ride'' Came the sarcastic reply from the cliff hanging magician.

''Yeah, and we've come to take Nami back'' Said Luffy as it was the most simple thing in the world. Which actually wasn't for now. ''You still haven't found her?'' Luffy said, now dusting himself of the excess dirt. ''Oh yeah. Where's Usopp and Johnny?''

''Usopp? That's right! This isn't the time to be idling around'' Zoro got up and started to run to save the other crew member.

''What happened? Don't tell me his in some kind of trouble'' Ezekiel asked, flipping himself from the cliff and landed with the other guys on the ground.

''That guy was caught by Arlong! If we don't hurry he'll get killed'' Zoro paniced, which wasn't like him telling that the situation was serious.

''He's dead'' Came a new voice. A voice belonging to Johnny.

''What?'' Ezekiel asked.

Falling on his knees and breathing hard, Johnny told them what happened. He said that Usopp was dead. Killed by the orange-haired navigator-to-be.

''Yeah! I saw it too!'' Came another voice, as the self-proclaimed Orange lightning ran into Ezekiel and sat on his shoulder. ''She murdered her in cold-blood!'' The anger and sadness was in his voice, because he lost yet another friend.

Johnny explaining more about the 'incident' and told that she did all those to obtain some hidden treasure in Cocoyashi village for herself. The man was crying, punching the ground in frustation that he couldn't save the deceaced sharpshooter.

''Bastard!'' Luffy ran at Johnny, grabbed him by the collar and held him up. ''Say that one more time and i'll kill you!''

''Stop it Luffy, this has nothing to do with Johnny'' Zoro said, trying to diffuse the short clash between them.

''You don't have to believe me, but i saw it with my own eyes! Even Daxter-aniki saw it!'' Johnny retaliated.

''Your making up crap'' Luffy shouted louder, shaking Johnny. ''There's no way Nami would kill Usopp! We're nakama!''

''But i...'' Johnny tried to add more, but was interrupted by yet another voice.

''Who's frieds, Luffy?''

''Nami? Why did you come here? What are you talking about? Your're my companion. I came to get you'' Luffy sent barrage of guestions at her and picked his hat that fell from his head.

''You cold-hearted bitch! You killed our friend!'' Daxter shouted, adding curses on her name unlike anything he's done before.

''How annoying'' Nami said with disgust.

''What?'' Luffy asked.

''Friend? Don't make me laugh. You're more like a pathetic group of cooperators, don't you think?'' She said with no hint of emotion on her voice.

''Why you... i saw it with my own eyes!'' Johnny shouted behind Luffy, pointing his finger at her accusingly. ''How.. how dare you kill Usopp-aniki!''

''And i thought that you wouldn't stoop so low as a pirate. Guess people can change through time, ne? Nami-san?'' Ezekiel said, making his way beside Luffy. ''Or are you just lying not only to us, but to yourself'' Came the rhetorical guestion.

She narrowed her eyes. ''And your point is?''

He shrugged, something he does alot today. ''The point being that i didn't peg you being a murderer, but i wouldn't put past anything about you. Seeing you would even sell your soul to the devil for a few berries''

''So? You wanna try killing me to avenge him?'' She countered.

''Well if you put it in that way'' Ezekiel said in his monotone and slowly unsheating his sword. ''I was about to say that i'll just leave you to regret''

''Ezekiel, stop. There's no need for that'' Luffy said, knowing that his new recruit was just trying to intimidate.

Seeing that the word got through by sheating his sword, Ezekiel just stared at the woman.

Nami regaining her composure continued. ''It seems to me that you yourself are a pirate now, but that's beside the point. Right now Arlong wants to kill 'Roronoa Zoro and his posse'. All because Zoro went and did something stupid. You guys may have these moster-like powers, but you're no match for real monsters. Hang around this island long enough, and you guys will be killed for sure''

''So, your saying that those fish-sticks are monsters? Believe me, those are the least of your worries. The real monster will come due their time''

She just scoffed and continued. ''Well... it doesn't consern me though, get yourselves killed. I'm past it''

Sanji being his usual stupid self said. ''Her cool look is still so charming!'' Getting his weird heart-shaped eye again and waved at her, he continued. ''Hi Nami-san! It's me, it's me, remember me? Let's go on a cruise together!''

''You stay out of this! You'll just complicate things'' Snarled Zoro.

''My love is always a hurricane! Hey! Listen to me when i'm talking!'' Sanji snarled at Zoro for plainly ignoring him.

''Where is Usopp?'' Zoro asked Nami.

''At the bottom of the sea'' She replied to him with indifference, making Zoro run at her with a sword in hand. Only to be stopped by not Sanji, but Ezekiel with his hand.

''What are you doing?'' He shouted at him, not undestanding.

''She's lying'' He replied to him.

''W-what?'' Zoro asked.

''I did tell you guys that my Sharingan can detect subtle movement like facial expressions. She's obviouly lying by the brief look to the right, the redness on her skin and the excess sweat. Though i give you one thing Nami-san, you sure can lie to your hearts content. My eyes only picked those, but it was just in your brief moment of hesitation'' Walking into the shade of the tree to meditate he continued. ''No need to worry guys, Usopps alive''

''Are you sure, Ezekiel-aniki?'' Johnny asked, not sure to believe.

''Trust me, i'm positive''

She gritted her teeth. ''I suggest you leave this island. You outsiders quit sticking your nose into this island's business. You still don't get it, do you? The only reason i got close to you is for the money, nothing else. Now that you guys have nothing, you're no use to me''

''And how do you plan to take the money from my scroll? It needs my Chakra _and_ blood to release it. Aside from that, the roll of paper is useless'' Ezekiel answered.

''Whatever, i'll just get more'' She was about to leave, but added more. ''I'll return the ship. So why don't you go find a navigator and head to the Grand Line. Go find One Piece or whatever'' Pointing her staff at them, she said. ''Just get the hell out of here! You're a bother, especially that weird red-eyed freak!''

The area was silent, until Luffy just closed his eyes and fell back on the ground with a thud. Elicting a small chuckle from Ezekiel.

''Luffy-aniki'' Johnny started.

''I'm going to sleep'' Was the blunt answer.

''Sleep? Right now? In the middle of the road'' Johnny added.

''I don't feel like leaving the island. I don't care what's happening here. I'm a bit sleepy, so i'm sleeping''

''Luffy-aniki...''Johnny trailed off.

Zoro facepalmed at this captains antics while Nami looked away, gripping her left hand that held the black glove she shouted at them all.

''Do whatever you want! Go ahead and die!'' That said she fully turned around and ran off.

Another chuckle escaped Ezekiel who caught Sanjis attention.

''What are you laughing about?''

''That was yet another lie from her'' Ezekiel replied to him and even though Luffy was sleeping, there was a small smile with the snoring.

As the time went by with the captain still sleeping on the hard ground. Johnny and Yosaku said that they'll make their leave since their short time mission is over.

''Okay, take care'' Zoro sent his goodbyes.

''Well then, until we meet again'' ''Aniki, you guys take care of yourselves'' They both said and waved.

''I'm sure gonna miss those idiots'' Daxter said from a tree, slightly asleep.

After a long silence, that has been constantly distrubted by Luffy snoring. Sanji asked something.

''Hey, why was Nami-san crying back then?''

Zoro answered. ''That woman... crying?''

''She was crying in her heart'' Sanji answered.

''Zoro scoffed. ''That woman doesn't have a heart''

And it continued with their usual bickering and mutterings, while the other tree stayed quite. Not really bothering to do anything until the captain wakes up. As they were still bickering, but this time about Nami's chest they attacked eachother. Though before their attack connecter to their intended target, it was intersepted by Usopps head between Sanjis leg and Zoros swords hilt.

''USOPP! DID NAMI DO THIS TO YOU!'' Luffy, who just woke up saw the beaten Usopp on the ground.

''Nah, just those two's attack that was about to connect was instead 'saved' by a timely intervention'' Ezekiel explained.

''Usopp, my man! Your alive! I though you were fish food by now!'' Daxter happily shouted.

''Yeah, sorry about the hit, it was me and him'' Sanji pointed at Zoro.

''It was you!'' Zoro protested.

''I'll kill you guys someday!'' Usopp stood up, miraculously healed. Then he looked at the other member that crouched beside him earlier. ''Ezekiel? So this means that your our nakama now?''

''Hai, hai! Luffy passed the test, so i'm now your guys trouble'' He smiled.

''Well then, let me congratulate you first on to captain-Usopps crew. Yosh! With you guys here we'll kick the fishmens ass!''

''So would you mind telling what really happened at the Arlong Park?'' Daxter asked from Usopps shoulder.

Usopp began telling them that Nami bluffed and staged his death so he could escape. Also that there's a reasonable explanation for her being with the fishmen pirates and that they should ask more from Nami. At that moment, Nojiko arrived, saying that it's useless asking Nami about anything and just staying out of the village's business. She said that once she tells about Namis story, that they have to leave the island immediately. Luffy being just the rubber idiot, told her that he'll pass and doesn't care much about her past started to go for a walk.

''What do you mean, you'll go for a walk?'' Came from Usopp. ''Your not going to listen to the story?''

''Yeah, i'll pass'' And went off with that.

''What's with him?'' Nojiko asked.

''Don't mind him'' Said Zoro as he made a walk to the shadow of the nearby tree. ''That's just what he's like. We'll listen to the story, although it probably won't change anything''

''I'll listen too. I want to understand what's going on here'' Usopp said.

Smiling, Sanji added his own words. ''Me too, i want to know everything about Nami-san''

''I decline'' Ezekiel said, noticing the attention to him he saw Sanji just in time opening his mouth. ''If Nami-san wants to tell about her past, it's the priviledge she has and no one else. Dax, stay here. I've got a rat to exterminate'' And vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Nojiko, startled said. ''What was that? He just vanished''

''He's just showing off and acting all wise'' Scoffed Sanji.

''Though our swordsman is sleeping'' Daxter pointed at the snoring Zoro.

''Don't sleep if you said you'd listen!'' Shouted Usopp.

Looking at the retreating back of Luffy and the spot where Ezekiel vanished, Nojiko said. ''No wonder Nami is torn'' _''I can see she likes to talk about him'' _Nojiko though, looking at the fallen leaves sprawled on the ground. With those said and thought respectively, she started telling about Nami's past.

[Through the trees, Ezekiel's POV]

So, here i am. Jumping through the trees in search of Nojiko's house. Can't really remember where it was, but there should be a dirt road leading there and the air should smell like oranges. It's a shame that my notes about the happenings vanished from my Iphone due to Usopp meddling with it. Though i do remember some of it and this one is where the rat-marine goes to Nami's treasures.

''Kage Bunshin no Jutsu(Shadow cloned Jutsu)'' Summoning 5 clones i gave them their orders. ''Listen, i want you guys to sweep the area near the still remaining villages and search for Nojiko's house where Nami's should be. That done dispel immediately and i shall do the rest''

''Hai oyabun!'' They saluted and scattered. _''Please, don't let it be too late''_ Ran through my mind as i waited for the clones to report.

[30 minutes later]

_''Finally! But shit! The marines are already on their way!'' _Pumping my legs with Chakra i started to hop from tree to trees to East from my direction. The last memory of my clone being the marines escorted by the weird man with a pin-wheel attached to his hat.

[Nojiko's house, With Nami and the marines]

_''Marines? And why is Gen-san with them?''_ Nami thought as she observed the marines.

''Are you the female thief, Nami?'' Askes a marine officer with rat-like whiskers. ''According to our investigation, you seem to have stashed the stolen treasure in this very orange farm'' Nami's eyes widened at that. ''Well, since you stole from pirates, we have no intention of arresting you. But theft is still theft. Therefore, all the treasure that you have stolen will now become goverment property. Now then, hand it all over! Confiscate it!''

There was a tense silence between them. Nezumi, the name of the marine officer ordered his flunkies to search the treasures. Nami, of course wouldn't stand down for it, took 3 pieces of wood and assembled them into a staff. With that, she started slamming the marines from getting into the orange plantation. Berating the corrupted marines about their lack of responsibility for their jobs as marines. When he hinted that it was Arlong who lead him here, one of the marines shouted that they found Nami's hidden treasures and she lost it as she ran at he corrupt marine officer with the staff.

''Don't touch it!'' Nami shouted those words like a mantra.

Nezumi just sneered and pulled a gun from his marine jacket and aimed it at Nami. Gen and Nojiko saw this and stopped Nami from getting to the guy, but Nezumi still made the shot with the gun.

*Bang* *Kling*

After the shot they heard a klinging noise and saw Ezekiel with his sword unsheated at his eye level.

''Phew, any second too late and we would have a bloody corpse lying there, ne?'' Was the unwanted dark humor at the situation.

''Who are you?'' Nezumi said still with the sneer of disgust.

''Oh, don't mind me. I'm just a helpless pirate strolling around'' He said with the innocent fake smile.

''So your a pirate..'' Nezumi declared, putting the gun away. ''I don't need to waste my gun on the likes of you''

Nami, who was just staring at his back found her voice. ''Ezekiel, what are you doing here?''

''What? No hello and thank you for deflecting the bullet with the flat side of your sword so it didn't pierce my sisters head, that's just rude'' He turned around with a true smile at her. ''I guess i can live with that''

''Well, not for long! Marines! Detain him!'' Nezumi ordered and 4 marines engage Ezekiel, trying to over-power him with their numbers.

''I'll go with hand-to-hand combat today, seeing as it's a nice weather'' Ezekiel said and got into his stance. As the closest marine got withing range and tried to grab him, Ezekiel side stepped it and clotheslined him into the ground. This time he made another move by grabbing the other marines arm, swinging it behind it's owners back gave a round-house kick to another marine whilst crushing the others arm. The last marine seeing his fallen comrades took his own sword and tried to make a stab at Ezekiel, only for the guy to side step and punched his in the face.

''Well that was fast. I thought that the marines had some special training for these situation'' Pouted Ezekiel.

''How dare a pirate make a mockery out of us!'' Nezumi shrieked and sent rest of his flunkies at him.

*Bam!* *Crash!* *Kling!* *Crash!*

After a few fast and direct moves later the marines were on the ground moaning in pain.

''Man, this is pathetic. As a corrupted marines you must at least show some decency here'' Huffed the official Straw Hat pirate and made his way to the sibling pair and Gen. ''I do hope you guys are alright?''

''Thank you, Ezekiel-san for helping us'' Bowed Gen, while the other two just kept staring.

''It's alright, i had a feeling that those trash over there were up to no good'' Smiled Ezekiel.

''I said not to interfere dumbass!'' Nami walked up to him and slapped him across the face unfazed.

Sighing he continued. ''If something would've happen to you without me doing anything, i doubt Luffy would've forgive me. So, if you still have anger issues i'm here''

She clenched her still good fist and hit him again shouting. ''I don't need help! I don't need anyones help or consern! I alone will fix this!'' And ran away, probably to release more of her ire at Arlong.

*sigh* ''I'll get this rat here in the village to be tied in a tree. Wanna join me?'' With that said the three of them dragged the uncounsious corrupt marine officer and the marine recruits.

[Village near Nojiko's house]

Tying the rat marine officer and his suborbinates, who were still uncounsious. Gen started to held a speech that Arlong's tyranny has gone too far, and they should start fighting for their freedom. As the speech continued, Ezekiel found his captain leaning against a tree and made his way there.

''Hey Luffy, how was the walk?'' Ezekiel sat down next to him.

''It was alright. I even saw few of those fishmen hanging around. They were just a bunch of weirdos. So what happened here?'' Luffy answered.

Ezekiel started to explain Luffy about the moment he left the others with Nojiko. He listened, or tried to listen, but it seemed his attention span was even shorter that a 5 year-olds. Looking back, they both saw Gen just finishing his speech.

''We will not forgive them for preying on Nami's kindness! Are there any objections?'' Gen shouted to the villagers who were armed.

''No way! Let's go!'' ''We're already prepared to fight!'' ''We're not gonna take it anymore!'' Raising their choosen weapons in the air they shouted. ''YEAH!''

''Wait everybody!'' Came a new voice. Looking at the voice, it revealed to be Nami giving them all fake smiles. ''Just wait.. just wait a little longer'' She started to say that since she still has her money, there's no need to fight Arlong's gang. But it was all in vain when the villagers mind was made up. Gen hugged Nami, saying that it's enough and that she fought well. That she now can run away and live her life, but Nami wouldn't have none of that and took a dagger, threatening the villagers to back down and not fight the fishmen.

''It's useless, we've already decided in our hearts'' The village doctor said. Nami was by now tearing when Gen shouted at her.

''Out of the way, Nami!'' Gen turned around, raising his sword in th air and adressed the villagers. ''Let's go, everybody! Even if we can't win, we'll show them our pride!''

''YEAH!'' Was the battlecry and made a mad dash past a shocked Nami into Arlong Park.

Nami dropped the dagger she was holding and fell to her knees. Arlongs laughter echoing in her head and she gripped the tattoo on her left shoulder. _''Arlong''_ She though the fishmans name with hatred. Grabbing her dropped knife she shouted ''Arlong!'' And stabbed herself in the shoulder where the mark of the Arlong pirates was. Repeatingly stabbing herself while shouting the fishmans name she hates, Luffy grabbed her arm before she could stab herself more. Turning her head around, she saw Luffy holding her arm. ''Luffy..'' She began, ''What do you want? You don't know anything. You don't know what's been happening for the past eight years on this island''

''Yeah. I don't'' Was the captains short reply, with now Ezekiel beside him.

''This is none of your business! I told you to get off this island, didn't I?'' Nami said, grabbing the dirt beneath her.

''Yeah. You told me''

''Go away! Leave! You! Go away!'' She said while throwing dirt on Luffy and Ezekiels feet. The latter just observing the dilemma. It continued for a while, until Nami sobbed more and turned around to see her two friends. ''Luffy, Ezekiel. Help me''

Luffy, whose eyes were shadowed by his straw hat, took it off his head and placed it in Nami's head. Walking a few feet away from her he shouted to the sky. ''Damn Right!''

Ezekiel took of his Masters necklace and wrapped it around Nami's neck making her gasp. She saw a brief flashback of them treasuring said items she now held. Without saying a word, Ezekiel took one step back and used Shunshin with the leaves to appear beside his captain. The both of them saw the rest of the crew waiting for them.

''We're going'' Was the simple order from the captain, getting the attention of his nakama.

''Right!'' Was the reply from all of them.

[In front of Arlong Park]

''Hey!'' ''Are you guys okay?'' ''Were you beaten up by Arlong?'' Came the various guestions from the villagers that were about to attack Arlong and is crew. Only there to be a slight problem as a beaten and batterd Johnny and Yosaku laid in front of the gate. Not moving an inch.

''Out of the way you two!'' Gen shouted. ''We've come to see the fishmen''

''After finding out the truth about Nami-aneki, there was only one thing to do – beat Arlong. With that in mind, we came here.'' Began Johnny with his arms crossed over his chest.

''But, we lost easily'' Admitted Yosaku.

''No offence, but we ain't moving for you guys. You, who have no chance of winning'' Said Johnny, stating the facts.

''What?'' Escaped Gen's thick moustached mouth.

''We're waiting for 'those guys' to come'' Came from Yosaku.

''Those guys?'' Gen repeated.

''Bet your life on it! 'Those guys' will definitely come!'' They both stood up an looked into the distance. ''Here they come!''

The villagers turned around to look behind them and saw all the Straw Hat pirates in line walking towards them.

From right to left there was first Zoro, with his white katana in his right hand, leaning in his shoulder.

Second was Usopp, with Daxter on his shoulder and wearing his goggles over his head.

Third and in the middle was the captain, without his famous straw hat safe in Nami's head

Fourth and in the left side of Luffy was Ezekiel with his serious gaze in front of him. He was wearing his usual attire, but now without the sleeveless hoodie. Leaving him with a long-sleeved white shirt that's been rolled in his arms. Revealing some scars and the usual purple wristband in the right arm.

The last but not least was their newest member, Sanji. With the suit and a cigar hanging from his mouth.

''Them..'' Nojiko began.

''Those guys? What about them...?'' Gen asked, looking at the five pirates heading their direction.

''If those guys can't stand up to them, then there's no hope, not only for this island, but for the whole East Blue. Remember the faces of those five, that have come to change the future'' Yosaku announced while holding his left bicep with the other hand.

Calmly walking up to them, Luffy said. ''Move''

[Inside Arlong Park]

''HAHAHA! Hey, do you think those two idiots were part of Zoro's gang?'' Inguired Arlong.

''Zoro's gang? They were far too weak. They weren't even worth killing'' Kuroobi answered his captain.

''So true'' Laughed Arlong

*Bang!*

''Eh?'' Came the voice of Arlong as he looked to his left at the gate.

*Bang!* *Crash!*

The gate was succesfully smashed by Luffy. Leaving nothing but rubble.

''What the?'' Arlong began.

Holding his right arm, Luffy said. ''Which one's Arlong?''

There you go and as promised a shorter chapter, though the update was fast. I think i didn't make this boring. As you might guessed it, everytime Ezekiel fells asleep there will be flashbacks about his past.

The reviews were something that really cheered me up, no flames yet... but maybe in time? Not that i want it, but it might help me improve this story.

Ezekiel's enemy will or will not be a fishman... or both, i'll leave it at that. But he will get his ass handed to him, because i don't want him to leave a battle unscatched.

Ezekiel: Why not you damn sadist!

1337box: There must be a torn shirt for the ladies.

Ezekiel: Oh, should've said that earlier.

Review and all that. Until next time! I'm OUT!


	5. Humans vs Fishmen

**Chapter 5: Humans vs. Fishmen.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Arlong Park]

''Which one's Arlong?'' Holding his fist in front of him, Luffy guestioned the fishmen staring at the now detroyed gate.

''Arlong? That would be my name'' Answered the fishman sitting in a stone-like throne.

''I'm Luffy''

''Luffy?'' Guestioned Arlong. ''And what are you?''

''A pirate'' Was the short reply.

''Oh! It's him! He's here! The Nii-Chan who likes to take walks!'' Hachi exclaimed.

''Not so fast there,you. Hehehe, where do you think you're going?'' A random fishman said as Luffy was walking to Arlong

''You got some explaining to do to us first, Nii-Chan'' Hachi told Luffy.

A couple of fishmen got in front of Luffy, one holding onto his shoulders. ''C'mon hey... if you don't stop...'' But their speech was interrupted by said pirate, who slammed their heads together knocking the out cold.

''Out of the way'' The rubber-human resumed his walk to Arlong. Getting a few gasp from the display of strenght.

''And what does a pirate want with me?'' Arlong asked lazily.

Grabbing his wrist and pulling it back, Luffy punched Arlong in the face. Sending the fishman captain skidding into the wall opposite the gate. The fishmen and humans both were ashtonished by the amount of force behind the punch.

Arlong who was sitting on the floor looked at Luffy with hate in his fish-like eyes. ''Who the hell are you?''

Luffy exhaling steam from his nostrils looked at Arlong with the same glare. ''Don't you dare make _my_ navigator cry!''

''Bastard!'' ''How dare you hit Arlong-san!''

The other fishmen in the pool shouted and lunged at Luffy, but was interrupted by a loud cry of ''Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu!)'' Where a fireball the size of a car engulfed the attacking fishmen, sprawling them on the ground with severe burn marks.''Maa... maa, Luffy. No need to be so direct with Sushi-Chan'' Ezekiel said with smoke rising from the corner of his mouth.

''Did he just expel a fire from his mouth?'' Nojiko asked bewildered. Daxter seeing her made his way over to the villagers.

''Yeah, our bad-boy can do lotsa stuff there, you'll see'' He boasted.

Luffy, finally acknowledging his companions present said. ''It's not like i'm going to lose even if i was alone''

''Just saying, your not the only one who likes to make cool entrances'' Side clanced Ezekiel at his captain.

''Oi! Shitty fire-breather, don't take all the prey for yourselves!'' Sanji shouted from the gate entrance.

''I didn't, Usopp gave me permission to reduce the players, ne Usopp?'' Countered Ezekiel.

''Hai hai! I wanted to see more of our nakamas strange abilities'' Nodded Usopp, sweating and barely holding his composure.

''There you have it'' Smiled Ezekiel, which didn't suit the situation.

''That's some bravery there, Usopp'' Zoro deadpanned.

A accusing shout came from the octopus fishman and pointed one of six arms at Zoro. ''That's him! It's that guy! The unknown swordsman!''

''That's Roronoa Zoro'' Clarified Kuroobi for his fellow fishmen comrade.

''As i thought, i knew it! He's the one that tricked me!'' Holding his fin covered hand in his 'chin'. ''He rode me.. i mean, i gave him a ride...''

''Look, that long-nose!'' Some fishman yelled.

''Huh? But Nami killed that guy!'' Hachi said.

''He's alive, which means...'' Chew trailed off.

''I knew it! I was right all along. That woman's a traitor!'' Kuurobi accused the navigator.

There was a tense silence when Arlong started to growl.

''Hey, who are those guys?'' A villager pointed at the human pirates, when they started to enter the smashed gate. They we're stopped by Johnny and Yosaku's swords from proceeding.

''He blew Arlong away?'' ''Unbelievable!''

''That's not something a normal human can do!'' Gen shouted, amazed of their power.

''Those guys...'' Nojiko trailed off.

''You still wanna fight?'' Asked Yosaku.

''If you guys join in, you'd just make things worse for them. You'd just get in their way'' Said Johnny, not letting anyone through to interrupt the upcoming fight.

''But, why are they fighting? What reason do they have to fight them?'' Gen guestioned the bounty hunter duo.

''A reason? Nami-aneki was crying'' Johnny said.

''She risked her life. Do we need any other reason?'' Continued Yosaku.

''Pirates, eh? I see. So that's the relationship between you guys. I thought you were just Nami's victims. But what can five inferior beings possibly do?'' Arlong inguired the pirates.

''You guys are idiots'' Hachi walked up to them and stopped. ''You think Arlong-san will waste his time with the likes of you?'' Turning around to the pool Hachi said. ''He'll be enough for the job!'' And used his weird trumpet-shaped mouth to call something.

''Could it be?'' A villager guestioned.

''It's coming. That is...'' Nojiko said, but couldn't finish because of the tremor around them.

''Wha-wha-what's going on?'' A fearful Usopp paniced when the tremor got bigger and bigger.

''You guys can be his next meal! Come out! Mohmoo!'' Hachi yelled, holding his arms wide to welcome Mohmoo.

The water in the pool started to rise high into the air revealing a beaten and crying sea bull.

''It's a monster! The monster from the Grand Line that crushed Gosa Village!'' Trembled Usopp, not showing his courage this time.

''That... it's the sea bull, Mohmoo!'' A villager shouted.

''A sea bull? I knew that thing had a name'' Ezekiel nodded to himself from the revelation. The sea bull noticed him and went closer. He fliched when he saw the three who beat him up.

''Oh, it's just him'' Luffy said nonchalantly with his arms crossed.

''So he was a nakama of the fishmen'' Was the rhetorical guestion from the ships cook.

More tears started to roll over Mohmoo as he recalled Luffys punch, Sanjis kick and Ezekiel torturing him. The sea bull turned and was about leave.

''Hold on! Mohmoo!'' Hachi shouted with confusion. It seemed that Mohmoo was acting diffently from his usual self. ''Where do you think you're going?'' But Mohmoo was already swimming away ''Hey! Wait! Wait, i tell you! Mohmoo!'' Hachi waved his six arms.

''Mohmoo...'' Came the cold and dangerous voice of Arlong. ''What are you doing?'' The sea bull stopped, horror plastered across it's 'face'. ''Well, if you wanna run away, i won't stop you... would i, Mohmoo?'' Mohmoo's expression turned from his previous expression to one of a berserked wild animal and went berserk.

''Yeah!'' ''Get em'!'' ''Follow Mohmoo!'' The fishmen shouted and prepared to attack the humans with the sea bull.

''It's coming!'' Usopp shrieked, waving his arms frantically in front of him. ''I'm sorry!, I'm sorry!, I'm sorry!, I'm sorry!''

Zoro and Ezekiel slowly unsheated their respective swords, Sanji just smirked, and Usopp shaking in fear even more. But it was Luffy that did the dumbest thing ever. Raising his left foot, he slammed it into the ground which stuck in there and repeated it with the other foot.

''What the hell is he gonna do?'' Sanji asked the others.

''I've got a bad feeling about this'' Zoro answered, but it was more like for himself.

Spinning his upper and locking his gaze at the sea bull. Luffy streched his arms, grabbed both of Mohmoo's horns. Making everyone stop and look at his arms.

''His arms stretched?'' Hachi gaped at him.

Even Arlong was staring at the rubber-man. ''He possesses the power of the Devil's Fruit!''

''What?'' A scared fishman guestioned. ''Who cares! Let's go!''

''Shit! Everyone get the hell out. Luffys gonna rampage!'' Ezekiel shouted at his nakamas.

''What? What's he gonna do?'' Came Sanjis confused stare.

''I dunno, but it's not going to be pretty!'' Zoro answered him, equally aware that his captain is going to do something extremely stupid and ran away from the scenery.

''Gomu Gomu no Pinwheel!'' Luffy shouted his attack and started to spin the huge sea bull around at the unfortunate fishmen. After he finished spinning, Luffy threw Mohmoo back to the pool where he and the other fishmen laid unconscious.

''I didn't come here to fight these guys!'' Shouted a panting Luffy. ''The one i want to take down... Is you!'' Luffy pointed his finger at Arlong.

''That's just perfect. I was just thinking about how i'd like to kill you now too'' Arlong grinned, showing his dangerous sharp shark-like teeth.

''That was dangerous, you idiot!'' Sanji said, kicking Luffys head with the bottom of his shoe.

''Did you want to kill us too?'' Usopp shouted too at his captain.

''Huh?'' It seems Luffy woke up from some kind of trance, making Ezekiel just laugh at that.

''Hahahah! That was hilarious, though you could've let me just electrocute them''

[With Daxter and others at the gate]

There was a loud rabbles going around with the villagers, who looked from the fishmen to the human pirates.

''Such destructive power...'' Trailed Gen.

The doctor of the village also made his voice present. ''It's unbelievable that a human who can throw a monster like that even exist!''

''Is this battle of this world?'' Gen asked.

[Inside Arlong Park]

''Well tough shit Luffy, you got yourself stuck'' Deadpanned Ezekiel as Luffy tried to move.

''What the hell did you think you were doing?'' Usopp reprimanded the future Pirate King.

The three remaining fish men who narrowly escaped the onslaught stared at the lowlife humans. ''How dare you do that to our crew!''

''Looks like we have to get our hands dirty now'' Kuurobi said to his crew.

''I think we need to teach them the difference between our species'' Chew added.

''Sorry guys it took me too long, though i suggest not to visit the bathrooms for a while'' A new voice came from inside the building. The voice was a short and skinny grey-skinned fishman, with a short bowl-cut pink hair. He looked like one of those eels you find in the ocean, but still had those traits that made him look like a fishman. The eel-like fishman didn't look as strong as the others, but that didn't mean he was weak. His attire consisted of a purple baggy pants with a pink sash around his waist, but wore nothing in his upper body, showing his sharp scaled torso. As he looked around the destruction, he asked Hachi about what happened.

''Yo! Hachi, what happened here? Someone got drunk?'' He chuckled to himself.

''No, those lowlife humans dared to cross us'' Kuurobi sneered and looked at the shorter fishmen. ''It seems that Arlongs top fighters have gathered to eliminate the threats. Are you ready, Blade?

The now identified Blade looked at his opponents, studying them and gave his reply. ''As i'll ever be!''

''So, the main forces have finally shown themselves'' Zoro smiled, eager at the coming battle.

''Arlong-san, please stay right where you are. If you fought out of rage, this place would turn to dust'' Chew explained to his captain.

''Hai Arlong-san! We'll take care of 'em!'' Blade said punching his fist.

''Yeah, do whatever you like'' Was the lazy reply.

As Hachi took a deep breath, Luffy was trying to get his crews attention in vain.

''Take this! Zero Visibility – Octopus-8-Black!'' And shot a stream of jet-black ink at the Straw Hats.

''Oh no you don't! Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!'' Ezekiel shouted and got in front of Luffy. Flashing a quick rehearsed series of hand-seal, he unleashed yet another stream of fire. This time it was meant to intersept the black ink which worked. When Hachi's ink stream stopped, there was a small noticeable stream of fire coming from Ezekiel's mouth.

''That was close! Thanks Ezekiel!'' He grinned at him, wiping some invisible sweat of his forehead.

''Another Devil Fruit-user?'' Arlong said confused, probably from the odds that there is not one but two of them.

''What was that?'' Hachi asked, but got over it. ''Neverming, if that didn't work i'll finish both of you with this'' Taking a giant piece of rubble from the ground, he threw it at the duo. When the rock slammed into them, there was a crack in the middle and the rubble split in two. Revealing Sanjis foot high that 'saved' the two.

Luffy, still not really understanding the situation just clapped at Sanji. Looking at Ezekiel he just grinned.

''Looks like we ended up with a complete moron of a captain''

''He'll have his moments someday'' Shrugged Ezekiel.

Usopp just shouted eyes wide. ''They... they are Awesome!''

''Well, at least it's a hundred times better than being with a low-life bunch that hurts a lady'' Sanji said cooly.

''A lady? You came here all the way here for 'that kind' of woman?'' Kuurobi said to the grinning Sanji. ''You guys make me laugh'' And continued with their banters at each other.

''So, you ever been in Grand Line?'' Blade approached Ezekiel.

Grinning he replied. ''Born and raised from the deepest pits of hell!'' Was the answer to his new made-up identity.

Blade also grinned, showing his sharp teeths like the one Arlong has. ''That was some cool trick with the fire. Tell me, are you also a Devil Fruit-user?''

''Na-ah! Let's not spoil the fun, why don't you come and find it out yourself? Your comrades have already choosen their opponents'' Ezekiel wiggled his finger at him.

Blade looked around and indeed noticed that Kuurobi got a stance against Sanji, Hachi against Zoro and Chew who was chasing the now fleeing Usopp. ''I see your point'' He said and turned back to Ezekiel. As he raised his leg behind him and kicked the air. There was a light-blue cresent moon heading at him. Though it wasn't directed at Ezekiel, but to the fishman next to him who was trying to ambush his him.

Raising a delicate eyebrow, Ezekiel said. ''A Rokushiki-user? I though that style was reserved for the marines'' Not really caring about the sliced fishman.

''Well, secrets are made to be discovered'' Srugged Blade nonchalantly.

Flashing his Sharingans to life Ezekiel replied. ''Try to figure out these''

''Nice coloring on the eyes. I see your not your average human i've been countering. You know what? Let's take this up to the rooftops here, don't wanna ruin the fun from others'' And vanished with a Soru to the rooftop of Arlong Park.

''As you wish'' Ezekiel said, also vanished in a column of fire opposite Blade. Both steadingly studying each others weaknesses.

Their silence was disturbed by Luffys shout when they both nodded to each other. Postponing their match for awhile.

''Useless'' Kuurobi exclaimed

Holding the giant piece of rock that held Luffys Legs. Arlong threw him to the pool.

''Luffy!'' Sanji shouted. ''Bastard!''

''Hahahahahaha!'' Came Arlongs laughter over the sight of sinking Luffy.

''I'm going to sa-!'' Sanji was about to continue, but was stopped by Zoro.

''Idiot! Don't get worked up! If you jump in, you'll be right where they want you to be. The fishmen have the upper hand underwater'' Sanji gritted his teeths, but Zoro continued. ''There's only one way to save Luffy''

''Take care of these guys quickly and then jump in the water?'' Sanji looked up at the rooftops. ''Oi! Ezekiel. Can't you do something!''

''Hai! Give me a second!'' Putting his hands in a cross-seal he said. ''Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clones Jutsu)'' And summoned two clones and immediately gave them orders. ''Retrieve Luffy, Now!'' They both jumped from the rooftop, but not before the same cresent-shaped blade hit them both in their backs and vanishing in a cloud of smoke.

''I'm your opponent here and i won't allow you to be distracted from me!'' Blade shouted with his left leg outstreched.

''Shit! Sanji, it seems his on his own for now!'' Ezekiel said getting into his stance.

Having no other other choice, but to defeat their opponents before Luffy drowns to death the remaining Straw Hats got into their own respective stances.

''Let's do it! We don't have much time'' Said the unofficial first mate of the crew.

''Right'' Sanji followed.

''How many seconds do you think he'll last? The rubberman?'' Arlong inguired.

''Ah, so this is the game you were talking about'' Deducted Hachi.

''I see'' Kuurobi said, keeping his eyes on the two humans he's currently seeing.

''You got the fish'' Zoro quipped.

''You got the octopus, while the red-eyes has the eel'' Sanji told Zoro.

[At the gates]

Seeing Luffy drowning and the others can't help him, made Johnny and Yosaku panic.

''Luffy-aniki! He can't do anything by himself like that!'' Yosaku shouted.

''Luffy-aniki is gonna die!'' Johnny also shouted in terror.

[Inside Arlong Park]

When the bubbles died down Arlong began to laugh whole-heartedly and demeaned the humans about their lack of gills to breath underwaters. With those said the three human fighters engaged the fishmen.

''Hang on Luffy!'' Zoro shouted and dashed at Hachi. ''I'll end this in 5 seconds''

''Mine will be 3 seconds at best'' Sanji also dashed, but at Kuurobi.

''Unlike them, i won't underestimate my opponent. Least someone who uses Rokushiki. But do know that i will aim for the kill'' Ezekiel said to his opponent, ready to end as fast as possible to rescue the dumb captain.

''I understand, same goes for me too even though you are a human''

''Don't get racist on me you damn sea snake!''

''Fine, Rankyaku!'' And sent yet another wind blade at Ezekiel, but rolled to the side and unsheated his sword. When Ezekiel was close to Blade, he swunged the sword at him from low making him force to jump in the air. Only to receive a kick at his chest by a clone _''I see, he didn't make just two replicas but three''_ The kick sent him down to the ground, getting the attention of Arlong.

''I'm not done yet! Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!'' Ezekiel sent yet another fireball at Blade, forcing him to jump to the water. Looking at the water and the steam that came from his attack, he couldn't pinpoint his opponent. Suddenly there was another Rankyaku, directed at him from the waters. _''This ones weaker than the previous''_ Thought Ezekiel seeing with his Sharingas that the wind in it wasn't properly compressed. But nonetheless dodged it, if his enemy didn't see the mistake then theres no need to tell him.

Blade emerged from the pool and looked at his opponent. ''Intresting, i've never seen a human such as yourself''

Ezekiel didn't say anything, opting to just see what he could do next. There wasn't many though. He could jump in the water, but the guy would get the advantage. Since his opponent seems like a long-range fighter, he could test the other fighter with close combat. _''First the guy needs to get out there''_ Making the one required hand-seal he summoned 3 more clones, this time with the orders to plung in the water.

''Useless'' That said, he dived after the cloned. Not seeing that Ezekiel summoned three shurikens and held them in his hand. Closing his eyes he tried to focus on his enemies location from the memories of his clones.

_''So these aren't the power of the Devil Fruit. If it were they wouldn't be able to swin''_ Blade thought as he charged at the clones.

[At the gates]

''What the hell is he? He exhales fire and makes copies of himself'' Gen said, or asked the bounty hunter duo.

''Ezekiel-aniki is just Ezekiel-aniki, he just makes those happen. Zoro-aniki is still injured from his previous fight and Sanji-anikis kicks won't work'' Johnny said, looking at the fighting Straw Hats.

Indeed it was, Zoro was panting heavily and add that he's using one sword instead of his normal three, his in a disadvantage. Sanjis kick were constantly blocked and forced to back down from the water.

''Why isn't the other guy doing anything?'' A villager guestioned.

''He's already trying if you can't see that!'' Shouted the frustated Daxter at the lack of faith in his long time friend.

As the debate continued, Gen volunteered to go there to help Luffy.

''I'll go to'' ''Me too!'' ''I'm going!'' The villager shouted at Gen.

''No! We can't go in a crowd, the fishmen will notice. There's no reason to endanger their fight'' Gen protested. ''This is the only way we can do it. I can handle it. Are you alright with that?''

''Forgive us... thank you!'' Johnny got on his knees.

''We're counting on you! Please hurry!'' Yosaku said and repeated the action

''Just tell your friend to get the fishman out of the water'' Gen replied.

[Arlong Park, Rooftop, Ezekiel's POV]

_''Shit, Shit, Shit! The bastard had to get thrown in there and i can't do shit. At this moment the damn eel is faster than me with the Rokushiki and the first two clones has already been popped. Still, the eel is adept in close combat, but i might give him some challenge in that area. So that means that i don't need my sword. Maybe i could give it to Zoro? The sword only accepts strong willed and ambitious wielders. That would work. And what the HELL! That guy wasn't supposed to be in the Arlong arc. Better to think this later, nows not the time and i got the eels location''_ I thought to myself, slowly but surely infusing the shurikens with Wind Chakra i threw them. Getting some curious glances until Blade emerged from the waters.

''How did you hit me! There's no way you could've seen where i was!'' There was only two shurikens. One in his shoulder and the other at his bicep. I merely grinned, before i heard someone yell at me.

''Ezekiel-aniki! Get him out of there!'' Johnny shouted at me. Probably they want to dive in to save Luffy.

''Will do!'' Was my answer, when Blade sneered at me.

''And how will you do that?''

''I'll force you out!'' Flashing now through different set of hand-seal and moulding the correct amount of Chakra i felt the electricity cackling in my arms. Jumping from the rooftop a trail of azure lightning behind me, i shouted ''Raiton: Jibashi! (Lightning Release: Earth Flash!)'' And slammed both of my arms at the pool. Causing a thunderous boom to rocket the area and the water around me to stood up to 12 feet high. Blade was a bit dazed and i managed to grab his arm and threw him towards the lower section of the building and looked at Zoro. ''Zoro! Grab!'' That said i threw 'Yamaoroshi' in his direction, which he caught and gave a appreciative nod. The sword seemed to accept him since there wasn't any visible cuts in his hands.

I noticed Gen and Nojiko behind me diving into the water with a large hammer in their person. Continuing to look at the others i saw Zoro now fairing a bit better, but was still in a disadvantage at the 'Six Styler' from Hachi. Sanji was sending now a barrage of kick towards Kuurobi and Usopp was probably doing his own magic.

Then, out of nowhere there was a loud roar and where i threw the eel-like fishman there stood the same guy. Only with the weird purple orb in his hand that my clone found on Kriegs ship. _''I wonder what it does''_

[Before the roar, General POV]

''Raiton: Jibashi!'' The attack Ezekiel made sent a massive noise in everyone ears. After that there was something crashing in Arlongs base. ''Zoro! Grab!'' Ezekiel shouted and threw the katana toward Zoros direction.

''Ezekiel-aniki did it! Go! Save Luffy-aniki!'' Johnny shouted.

They understod without telling them twice and made their way to where Arlong threw Luffy.

''Yeah! Way to go Ez!'' Daxter jumped up and down in Yosakus shoulder causing him pain from his previous beating.

''The guys are amazing!'' ''They can definetely save our village!'' ''The tyranny will be over!'' The villagers started to cheer too early, because the mighty roar that escaped from the building made them shut up.

Blade stood at the hole he made holding a familiar purple orb in his right hand. The look in his eye was one of pure hatred and the small honor he had with him was washed away. Looking at the young man standing on water he shouted. ''You! I will fucking kill you for that!'' He placed the purple orbs in his chest, where it merged with it. His previous eyes now replaced with black sclera with no pupil on it. The hair, now longer and paler pink. Scales in his torso lenghtened and were slightly pointed out with the new color of purple/gray mix. Overall, he made a complete turn in his apperance and adding his own grin at it. ''Amazing, i feel... more powerful'' He looked at his hands and cleched them. ''Now you will face my true wrath!'' And vanished the reappered beside Ezekiel with his fist raised.

Ezekiel's Sharingan eyes widened. _''I can't dodge that!''_ Was his last thought when Blade grabbed his throat and slammed him into a nearby concrete. The Eel-Demons nails digging into his throat and hoisted the human from the ground, where Ezekiel tried to kick him away.

''Ezekiel-aniki!'' Johnny paniced seeing that the proclaimed magician was in trouble, since he just saw Zoro nearly passed out and Sanji punched through a wall through the other side.

''It's useless, no human can defeat me'' Boasted Blade, tightening his grip on the frail human throat. ''You're really intresting, but also dangerous and for that i can't let you and your friends live'' He started to punch the human across the face and stomach all the while laughing like a maniac. The Eel-Demons turned around and vanished to the woods. _''No need to spil his blood on our pool''_

[Nojiko's House]

The navigator of the Straw Hats was currently treating her self-induced stab wounds on her shoulder. She gritted her teeth from the pain and cried. Still wearing Luffy and Ezekiels prized belonging on her person she wiped the tears away. _''Enough tears. Enough talk. It's time to make up my mind!'' _Grabbing her staff she runned to her her next destination. _''I've got to go! They're all fighting!''_

[Arlong Park]

No one noticed the Eel-Demon vanish with the magician and focused on Zoro, finally slashing Hachi in the air. Slamming hard to the ground he was sure that the octopus was uncounsious. Arlong though, wasn't amused at the sight.

''I'm sorry, Octopus, but i'm not impressed. I have to hurry and rescue Luffy'' Zoro said, panting heavily with the wound on his chest re-opened.

''Aniki, look out!'' Yosaku tried to warn the downed Zoro.

''You fiend! How could you do that to Hachi!'' Was the rage filled voice of Kuurobi behind Zoro, ready to finish him off.

Just as Kuurobi was about to punch Zoro, Sanji came and kicked the martial artist away from the downed swordsman. ''You thought you'd gotten rid of me that easily, eh?''

''Hm? I didn't think there was anyone who could stand up to my punch, not in all of East Blue''

''Oh, i bet you'll find plenty who could. Especially in a certain sea restaraunt'' Sanji countered.

''You've been fooled into thinking that'' Sneered Kuurobi, glaring at Sanji.

When the glare continued, Zoro tried to reach the pool to save his captain but was beat to it by Sanji. Kuurobi just laughed at the stupidity and went after him.

''HAHAHAHAA! This is getting intresting. What do you humans intend to do next?'' Arlong laughed at the way this 'game' was proceeding.

Sanjis fight underwater was not good, seeing as he saw Luffy being helped by Gen and Nojiko he let his guard down. The fight progressed until Sanji blew air in Kuurobis lungs, forcing him to submerge. After that Sanji turned the table against him and started kicking him around. He finished with another kick to the snout, making the martial artist crash through the building where he laid there uncounsious. Arlong didn't like his men being beaten. Not one _bit_.

''You bastards. You killed so many of my beloved brethren one after the other. Don't you think you've gotten a little caught up in the moment!''

Getting up, Zoro asked Sanji. ''Hey, when you said Luffy's _half_ okay, what did you mean?''

''Well, hes not gonna die, but if you wanna free him, i gotta go underwater again for a bit'' Answered Sanji. ''And it doesn't look like this guy plans on letting me do that''

''Amazing... really amazing! They've taken out two of Arlong's best men!'' Nojiko said holding onto Luffys stretched head on the surface. Just then Gen emerged from the side to take a breath.

''I couldn't take it anymore. I can't hold my breath any longer'' Gen panted heavily.

''Gen-san, let's switch. I'll go this time'' Nojiko told him.

Looking at the rubberman Gen said. ''He looks much better; less pale''

''Yeah, he's thrown up a lot of water''

''What's going on over there?''

''Everything's all right. Nobody died yet. The other guy with the weird skill is still in the woods with some weird transformed fishman. I hope he's alright...'' She trailed off and looked towards the sea. ''Until now, i've been holding it back. I feel like i don't want to believe it, but this battle's rekindling my hopes again!''

Arlong, who by now was stomping all over Sanji and Zoro. Degraded and humiliated the duo.

''To kill humans like you, i don't need to do it myself. A little water is all it takes. That's the difference between you humans and us'' Arlong boasted as he dodged Sanjis kick and threw a handful of water at him which felt like a punch to him.

''You should just give up. Your lives aren't all that important anyway'' Arlong told the two downed human pirates.

''Arlong!'' A new voice came between Johnny and Yosaku.

''Nami-aneki!'' They both said at the same time.

''Yo, Nami! I was just giving some loser pirates a demonstration of our power'' Arlong smiled his creepy smile at her. ''So, what brings you here?''

''I'm here to kill you'' Was the short, cold reply from Nami.

''Here to kill me?'' Arlong couldn't help and started to laugh. ''You still haven't given up. How many times have you tried to kill me, these past eight years? Murder, poison, assault? Has it ever worked?'' The villagers were mortified at the proclmation that Nami did all that for their sake and felt bad not helping her.

''Arlong-san, it seems i'm a bit too late'' A new voice came again, this time from Blade who was holding the bloodied Ezekiel and with a firm grip on his throat. His clothes were torn and he was missing one of his shoes. The blood was dripping to the ground and the young man was twitching.

''Ezekiel-aniki!'' ''EZ!'' There was a lot shouting at his name. Even the bounty hunter pair were ready to attack, with or without sword.

''Hohoho! It seems you had some fun, ne?'' Arlong asked his only consious suborbinate.

''What should i do to him? He refuses to die''

''Just make a example out of him'' Arlong said. Nami's eyes widened, that was the same line he said when he killed Bellemere.

''You bast...'' Sanji was about to say, but was interrupted by a low yet noticeable chuckle. The chuckle came from the slightly disoriented Ezekiel. Getting the attention of Blade, he held him close to his face.

''What's so damn funny?'' Blade snarled.

Ezekiel didn't answer yet, but blew in a full blown laughter and kept laughing in his face. He threw the man far away like a plague and just stared at him.

''Thank you'' Came the still chuckling Ezekiel. Now Blades ire was sky-high, when Ezekiel continued. Still slouching to stand up he looked at Blade with a hint of amusement with the abnormal grin. ''I now understand what the orb is meant for, for that only i want to thank you''

''Hah, like a human can compare to mine power, you are as stupid as the rest of 'em!'' Blade sneered.

Ezekiel just ignored him and stood up fully from the ground. Grinning at the shocked expression of the Eel-Demons face he said. ''I now know what that is. It's some kind of negative power source, which gives the user a power boost. Highly intriguing'' _''At least i now know more about the flaws of this world that's not supposed to happen. Including me''_

Something clicked on Blade's mind. ''W-wait! Did you _let_ me beat you!'' Blade wasn't just mad now, he was furious that the human didn't scare of bow down to him. The villagers were terrified and confused that someone willingly took hits in the face. Zoro and Sanji behind understod the message and went slightly to the left.

''Your pretty smart for an average fishstick, but that's just who you are and nothing more'' Snapping his fingers, there was a loud explosions which came from Blades left leg and right hand. The Eel-Demon screamed in pain and anger at the situation that the human got him off guard. ''Those scales of yours are useful, but it works as a double-edged sword here. You see despite the good defence it grants it can be used against you. The thickness of them can't register that there were two identical piece of paper stuck in them''

Daxter seemed to perk up from that. ''He tagged him!'' That said he got the attention from majority of the area. ''He couldn't get close to him with that speed, so he let him get close. That's pure idiocy for you''

''What do you mean 'tagged him'?'' This time it was Nami who asked.

''It's those stuff he does. Kinda works like the storage seal in his wrist, but that one explodes when attached to someone and detonate it'' Daxter shook his head. Mostly because the table were turned now.

Blade tried to get up, but couldn't. His muscles from his leg and hand were severely injured that he couldn't budge. Looking at the human grinning at him like one would when they see a prey. Blade was for once in his life scared of a human.

''I admit, your definetely faster than me after that strange orb merged with you. Now that the situation is different, your speed means nothing without your stronger leg'' Blades eyes wided. ''Yes, i know that your left legged since you use those Rankyakus with it'' Shrugged Ezekiel, like it was the most known thing in the world. ''Even a toddler is able to notice that, but enough of that'' Flashing through another set of hand-seal, he said. ''It's time to finish this once and for all!'' And held his right arm down with the legs separeted.

The Eel-Demon tried to move, but in vain. He looked at Arlong and saw that he was now further away from him, probably to give him more space.

''Is he going to do what i think he will?'' Yosaku asked, now relieved that Ezekiel isn't dead.

''Yes, it's over now'' Daxter nodded.

''What are you guys talking about'' Nami asked also relieved.

Right on cue there was the noice of the one thousand birds chirping. Looking around there seemed to be a sky-blue orb of lightning emanating from Ezekiel's hand. Taking a steady stance and holding the chirping orb of lightining in the air he made a mad dash at he unmoving Blade. Right as he was about to plunge the orb at Blade, he shouted. ''Chidori! (One Thousand Birds!)'' A scream of pain later there was Ezekiel now, but his hand through the Eel-Demons chest.

The doctor of the village was amazed, but still worried. ''He missed his heart'' He claimed, using his knowledge of human and fishmen anatomy. ''Still that is a fatal wound where i doubt he'll survive''

Daxter was now confused. ''Why would he do that? Unless...'' He trailed off.

''Unless what Daxter-aniki?'' guestioned Yosaku, looking at the still standing Ezekiel with his hand through Blades chest.

''He want's to know something'' Daxter finally said after a long thoughtful moment.

''Now tell me about that strange orb you merged with'' Ezekiel whispered to Blades 'ear' elicting a small painful chuckle.

''I am not obliged to tell you anything, human''

''I was afraid you'd say that, but fine'' Pulling the hand out and letting the fishman fall in a heap. There was the purple orb that was now completly black dismerging from. _''Maybe it ran out of juice''_ Thought Ezekiel as he took the the black orb that crumbled into dust. He didn't have much to think, because Arlong just threw a handful of water at him that the Sharingan picked. Using a Kawarimi with a piece of rubble, he was in a safe distance from him.

''You piece of insignificant inferior creature! You killed my brethren!'' A furious Arlong shouted at the cautious Ezekiel. But as quickly as it came it vanished, replaced with mirth. ''I can see your tired, so your as much of a threat as those two friends of yours'' He faced away from him and looked at Nami, proposing that if she joins him, he'll spare the villagers despite their opposition against him, but the pirates have to die. Should she decide to turn against him, everyone will die.

''Nami. Are you my _nakama _or are you theirs?'' Arlong asked.

''Everyone, i'm sorry'' Nami said, her face hidden in the straw hat. Turning around with her staff in hand she said to the villagers. ''Will you die with me?''

''YOSHA!'' The villagers shouted and raised their weapons. ''Let's go!''

''So, you wish to be slaughtered'' Arlong glared at them, when the villagers shouted with their weapons in the air.

''Ya heard 'em guys! Now!'' Ezekiel shouted and two clones that were transformed into rubbles attacked Arlong. Though Arlong did swat them away it served it's purpose as distraction when shurikens whizzed past him. Ezekiel jumped far back to the top of the concrete next to the villagers and pulled something invisible. Next thing Arlong knew his body was surrounded by steel strings. ''It's over fish-face! Katon: Ryūka no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Dragon Flame Jutsu!)'' Ezekiel was surrounded by a strong burst of fire that was directed at Arlong through the steel strings. There was a short moment of silence, before a loud splash into the pool. Slumping, Ezekiel started to pant loudly.

''He did it!'' ''Arlongs gone!'' ''We're saved!'' The cheeres came from the villager and the others alike.

''How do you those?'' Nami asked the panting Ezekiel who made his way to them and smiled strainingly.

''It's a long story'' Ezekiel turned around and started to look at the surrounding. The sprawled fishmen, unmoving Blade and slightly consious Sanji and Zoro.

There was yet another splash, but this time a slightly burned Arlong was climbing up the pool. When he stood up fully his shirt was nearly burned and the burn mark in his torso didn't help to make him even more furious. ''You!'' He pointed at Ezekiel. ''You will pay for this!''

Ezekiel deadpanned. ''Why is it that if someone says that something bad will happen to someone somehow?''

Suddenly there was a giant water erupting from somewhere like a volcano outburst. Arlongs attention was there, but the sudden order made him look at the blond cook.

''Sanji! Get in the water i'll hold him off!'' Ezekiel shouted at Sanji and made 10 clones charge at Arlong.

''Don't order me around red-eyes!'' Sanji shouted back, but complied nonetheless and dived into the pool.

The real Ezekiel was now breathing even more. ''Shit, my reserves are low and i can't afford to lose much more'' He said to himself, but got some curious looks.

''Why not?'' A villager asked.

''If i run out of Chakra i'll die'' Was the short reply. _''Dammit! The clones are already weak and theres only 4 clones left and Sanjis not back yet. I have to use another Jutsu!''_ Couple of hand-seals later and took a deep breath just as he was about to destroy the last clone, he shouted. ''Fūton: Shinkūha! (Wind Release: Vacuum Blast!)'' And exhaled a blast of compressed wind that served it's purpose of saving the last clone. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to slice Arlong into fishfilet.

''Thanks boss!'' The clone showed a thumb up at his creator, making the villagers sweatdrop at the sight of showing a thumb at yourself. He was now beside Zoro with the three sword in his hands, ready to prevent Arlong to go after Sanji.

''Whatever that thing was, i'll find out who's doing it'' Arlong replied, not disturbed by the wind blast. ''Move'' He said sharply to the swordsman and the clone.

Out of nowhere the was a egg flying in Arlongs direction, but was just swatted away. Looking at the sight where it came from it was Usopp holding his slingshot.

''I got you guys covered!'' Usopp shouted from the hole that Kuurobi punched Sanji through it.

''Usopp, if Sanji finds out that you were wasting food, he's gonna kill ya'' The real Ezekiel said from the gates.

''Usopp!'' Nami smiled at him.

''Hey Nami, check it out! One of their guys, one of 'em was finished off by ME! Me, of all people. A guy with a face like this...'' And demonstrated it by pulling his lips to look like the fishman, Chew. ''Hahahahahaha. These fishmen are NOTHING!''

That, of course, didn't do nothing to make Arlong giggle. His ire just continued rising. ''Chew! You bastard...'' Arlong trailed, not angry at the long nose, but the fact that he lost to said long nose.

''You betcha! My appearance signals the climax of this battle! Get ready for the big finale!'' Usopp annouced.

''You said it Usopp!'' The real Ezekiel shouted doing more hand-seals. ''Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!)'' And sent a volley of small fireballs at Arlong, Zoro manage to give him a few cuts and the clone a kick to the jaw. Sending Arlong few feet away growling.

''Yeah! Anikis got this battle in the bag! We only need Luffy-aniki to finish him off'' Yosaku shouted.

''Our Cook-aniki is already there underwater freeing him, but i don't know what's going on in there. Whatever Cook-aniki's doing is crucial..'' Johnny trailed off.

''Zoro-aniki! Clone-aniki! Ezekiel-aniki! Stand strong to stop Arlong!'' Yosaku waved his arm in the air.

Usopp in one of his rare moments of braveness, shouted at Arlong to look over to him. He readied his rubberband intent on aiming at Arlong, when he was threatening Zoro. Only for him to lose his bearing and fail the shoot with the rubberband.

''Hey! What're you trying to do?'' Nami shouted at him from the stupidity of the 'attack'.

''I will not die. Allow me to break that ugly nose you love so dearly!'' Zoro made a swipe with the sword, trying to cut the fishman captains nose. Only for it to be blocked by the said nose.

''Fool. I love it because it's unbreakable. If you weren't hurt so badly, you might've given it a bruise or a scratch'' Those words said, Arlong moved his head and tried to stab Zoro with his head. Luckily the clone saved him from that by yet another kick to his head.

''Yeah! But your head ain't unbreakable, Sushi-Chan'' The clone showed him the tongue, but was on guard since the octopus seemed to wake up now of all times.

''Look, over there!'' Johnny pointed at the slowly standing Hachi.

Yosaku followed where his finger was pointing. ''Ah! That octopus jerk woke up!''

Indeed he did, but was holding his arms in front of him to brace himself from some invisible attack. Slowly opening his eye they widened and started to wave all six of his arms frantically. ''Crap! I thought a rubberband was coming!''

''What The Hell!'' The humans including Daxter shouted.

''Whaaaaat!'' Pointin his finger at Hachi he said. ''Of course, i was aiming for him!''

''Didn't you shout, 'Arlong?''' Nami asked him.

Panting heavily Zoro adressed Hachi. ''Octopus...''

''Roronoa Zoro! I won't let you get away with this! Watch how i kill your nakama in the water!'' Hachi shouted and was about to jump in the water himself, but was punched in the gut where his wounds were and leg-swiped by the clone.

Wagging his fingers the clone said. ''Na-ah you damn mollusc, that ain't gonna happen''

''Don't get agitated Zoro, you'll all be dead soon enough'' Arlong said and out of nowhere he stabbed Zoro with his nose in to the swordsmans chest, where his bandages were already bloody. Holding the swordsman up high by the throat he ripped the bandages of elicting a scream of pain. The other clone was already in combat with Hachi, careful not the let the octopus hit him.

''Anikii!'' Johnny shouted at Zoro. The were looks of horror from the swordsmans wound and it seemed to decrease the morale of the humans. Even Arlong was shocked at his state.

''Shit!'' Ezekiel paniced and sent yet another barrage of fireballs at Arlong, succesfully ensuring distance between the two.

With Sanji at the waters, he saw Nojiko trying to pull the rubbermans leg from the self-inflicted trap. Sanji waved her off, telling her that he'll take over now. Raising his leg high and slammed it into the concrete rubble, Luffy's body began to ascend to the surface where Gen was holding his head. The sudden increase in his ascention sent the rubberman high into the air.

''I'm baack!'' He shouted while flipping in mid-air.

''Rubber boy!'' The doctor of the village exclaimed.

''Luffy-aniki!'' Johnny waved his arms in the air whle Yosaku was crying tears of joy.

''Luffy!'' Nami smiled at him and his antics to shout.

''That rubber bastard...'' Arlong muttered.

''You're late, idiot'' Zoro panted, supporting himself with the available swords.

''About damn time shit-for-brains!'' The clone shouted on top of Hachi with Zoro beside him.

Luffy just grinned and there was sinking feeling on both Zoro's and the clone's stomach.

''Zoro! Ezekiel!'' He shouted their names and extended both his arms, grabbing them by the back shirt. Or in the clones case, what's left of it. The two victims looked at eachother with horror in their faces.

''H-hey! Stop it! Your not gonna...!'' Zoro shouted behind at Luffy.

''If you do, what i think your gonna do. I swear, i will feast on your soul tonight'' The clone threatened his meaningless threat, since it's going to dispel with no chance of getting it's revenge.

Pulling them back he shouted 'switch' an flung them even higher where he came.

''YOU MORON!'' Everyone shouted from the broken gates. Zoro was still flying while the clone dispelled while throwing a bunch of curses that would've made even a sailor blush.

Ezekiel just slumped to the groung to sit and meditate, having used a tremendous amout of Chakra today.

''Ezekiel-aniki, what are you doing?'' Yosaku asked.

''Well i've lost a lot of Chakra here and my pathways are riggid, so i'm gonna meditate here a while and i'll be fine... someday'' The last part was muttered while looking away.

As Luffy was still beating Arlong there were some questions asked by his weird skills.

''I don't how or when, but i've been born like this and raised so please no more of those stupid questions!'' Ezekiel shouted in frustation, really, people and their curiousity. Though the old doctor offered to treat him in first-aid. ''Don't mind me the swordsman need more medical attention here. Go get 'im'' Those said Ezekiel started to meditate in the whole curses and explosions.

[Broken Gate, Ezekiel's POV]

I'm pretty stupid aren't i? The Blade-fishman was fast, but after the strange orb he was twice as fast. Even faster than the average Rokushiki-user. Damn eel nearly looked like one of those cursed seal-users from the damn show Naruto.

Just then i heard Johnny and Yosaku shout about our injured Three-Sword Style-user and Usopp offering his assistance from the hole.

''I don't think that'll help!'' Nami shouted at him.

Zoro will live, Sanji is probably with the other two divers and the Luffy was joking with Arlong about something at the moment.

''Do you know what the difference is between me and you?'' Arlong asked the stretching rubberman.

''Noses?'' Luffy inguired, setting the whole area in a silence except Ezekiel's snickering. ''Chins?'' He asked again, hoping that some of his guesses were correct.

''Is Luffy-aniki... trying to joke around with him?'' I saw Yosaku from the corner my eyes, mouth agape with the others.

''No, i'm afraid he's quite serious'' A equally surprised Johnny shouted.

''Oh, the webs!'' Luffy tried to guess again and showing the difference between his hand and Arlongs.

''No, Luffy. I'm pretty sure he meant the smell of rotten fish in the sun'' I saw Arlong look at me with hate and the killing intent he was radiaiting was tickling my skin. But i still kept laughing with Daxter on my shoulder asking questions like 'Why the fuck did you let him beat you!' and the like.

The fight went just like in the anime, except the burn mark in Arlong's body here and there courtesy by yours truly. I even laughed when Luffy took the swords Zoro dropped and started to swing at Arlong.

''Can he even use swords?'' Nami asked.

''Not that i know of'' I shrugged at her, still meditating with eyes open.

And what do you know, Luffy managed to 'trick' Arlong and punched him across the chin sending him flying. The punch managed to break his teeths like a glass window

When Arlong demeaned Luffy about his 'swordsmanship', Luffy shouted at the downed fishman.

''Of course i don't know a damn thing about swords, you dumbass!

''Wha... what's he talking about?'' Usopp stammered.

''I don't know how to navigate, either. I can't cook nor can i make magic while waving hands'' I chuckled at that. ''I can't even lie''

''Oi!'' Came Usopps slight protest.

''I know that i need others to HELP me if i want to keep on living!''

After a lot of insult at Luffy and why should we even follow such a idiot of a captain. That we need a captain we can be proud of and why are we even his nakamas.

''What can you do?'' Guestioned Arlong.

''I can beat the crap out of ya!'' Luffy shouted at him, not even moved by Arlongs words.

''That goes without saying, piece of shit...'' Sanji cursed.

''I you get yourself killed Luffy, i'll drag you back from hell and kill you myself!'' I shouted at him, because no one could hear Zoro saying the same.

''Yeah! I'll back you up!'' Usopp also added his two cents.

''Yeah!'' ''Kick his ass, rubberman!'' ''Go Luffy-aniki!'' ''Go get him!''

The weird part was when Arlong grew another set of teeths and started using them like some kind chomping boxing gloves, but ended up chomping his own kinsman. Luffy did say that he had an idea when he managed to land a heavy kick in Arlongs jaw, breaking yet another set of teeths and putting them on his own mouth to demonstrate how the fishman bites. That didn't help me to lose it and just broke in a laughter.

After that the fight went just like by. Luffy joking around, Arlong trying to kill Luffy, Arlong going berserk and clawing a saw-shaped sword from the building and the fight going up to the slanded rooftops. From there they smashed into Nami's room where she drew the maps for Arlong.

''Nami? What's in that room?'' I asked a bit to snap her out of her daze. She looked at me strangly, i didn't know what it meant so i squited my eyes just for fun. She laughed a bit sadly.

''My eight years of pain'' She answered me. I just merely nodded and stood up. Walking in front of everyone i felt the eyes on my back. The second i heard trashing i made several hand-seals for a continuos fireballs.

''Aniki, what are you doing?'' Johnny asked confused of my action.

Though i didn't answer and took a deep breath. Just when a desk flew by i exhaled the fireball, setting the wooden desk on flames. More furnitures were falling and i aimed at them all, turning them into ashes. Next there was Nami's old maps, when i looked at her i saw her crying. Not the usual sadness, but of pure joy and continued setting them on fire.

Seeing the now streched foot slam through the top of Arlong Park, i knew that would be the final attack and made my way back to where i first stod. I heard Nami say a small 'Thank you' and i just smiled a warm smile at her. ''No biggie''

The whole building started to collapse when Luffy's foot came down. I started to walk a bit further and pushing Nami away from the uncoming wreck.

''But Luffy's still in there!'' She shouted at the collapsing Arlong Park.

''I assure you, he'll be fine. He's gotten out from thougher situation like that'' She didn't seem to believe that at first, but nonetheless went with it. After long silence and the clouds parting away to reveal the sun and the blue sky, i saw Luffy standing on top of the rubble panting. He took a deep breath and shouted.

''NAMI! YOU ARE MY NAKAMA!''

She started to tear up more, when i put my hand on her shoulder. I noticed that she looked at me and still keeping my smile she nodded.

Then there was a loud cheer going on and people shouting that the tyranny is over. They all ran at Luffy and threw him in the air cheering loudly while the captain was laughing. Nami walked up to Luffy, placed his straw hat in the rightful place and gave him a high-five.

[Arlong Park's Ruin, General POV]

''Well about time it's over! I was sick of cheering for you guys to kick ass!'' Daxter shouted from Ezekiel's shoulder who was worse for wear.

''Did you doubt us?'' He deadpanned. ''Damn ottsel doesn't know how to lift up the mood. A great friend indeed''

''Well, you don't see me letting my enemies freely beat me'' Daxter countered.

''Just shut up'' Pouted Ezekiel.

''That's enough, scumbags!'' A new rat-like voice shouted. Everyone turned their heads to see the marine officer, Nezumi and his marines with guns pointed at the pirates and the villagers alike. They were bitching about taking Arlongs bounty and treasures.

''Don't spoil the mood when people are trying to celebrate'' Zoro said coldly.

''Yeah, it's not like you guys invite us to small get togethers'' Ezekiel spoke in a deadly threatening voice and cracking his fist.

*Bam!* *Crash!* *Bam!* *Thud!*

After about 5-10 ten seconds later the marines were lying on the groung unconscious. Daxter went to the downed pummeled Nezumi and said. "While you're down there, can you rub my feet?" And started to jump on his head all the while clawing it.

''I-if you dare hit me just one more time, i won't let you live'' The bruise covered Nezumi said, scaring Daxter out of his face behind Usopp.

''You're still talking?'' Sanji rubbed the back of his head.

Nami walked to the downed marine officer and patted his cheek. ''This is for trying to shoot Nojiko and messing up Bellemere-san's tangerine grove''

''Huh?'' Nezumi managed to say before Nami slammed her staff in his face.

''Ou! Right in the kisser'' Ezekiel grinned.

After Nami set her demands for cleaning the area, help reconstruct Gosa Village and not touch even a single sparkling thing in the fishmen's riches. The marines made some kind of threat that Ezekiel and Luffy tuned out and talked something about food and other grubs, while Usopp paniced about being notorious. The villagers were running around to relay the good news through the island.

''I guess we need to get you two to a doctor'' Sanji said with his hands in his pocket.

''No need to, i just need some sleep'' Zoro countered.

''Same goes for me, it's nothing'' Ezekiel said and picked his sword from the ground where it sowhere along the fight dropped.

Nami wasn't having none of that and tried to drag Ezekiel to the doctor. ''No, your badly injured and you need a doctor''

''Ou! Hey, that hurts. Why don't you drag Zoro?''

She seemed to blush, or was it anger at the complaining. Couldn't tell, but Sanji started to say that he broke something too and needs also a medical attention.

''Your even worse liar than Usopp'' Luffy pointed out to Sanji.

''Am not!'' Where they started to protest while making weird expression and soundeffects about the happenings. The time went by fast as Nami finally managed to drag Ezekiel to the hospital to be treated. Though they weren't as bad as Zoro's wounds, they started treating the swordsman first while Nami sat next to Ezekiel waiting.

''Ne, doesn't Nami-san have something better to do than sit here?'' Ezekiel tried to make a convensation at the waiting hall with Usopp, Sanji and Daxter. The middle one also now being treated. By now the Ninjutsu-user was covered in bandages from the torso and forehead with no shirt at all.

''What kind of a friend would i be if i were somewhere else?'' She smiled at him, not the usual fake smile she throws here and there, but an actual genuine smile.

''Touché, Nami-san'' Ezekiel looked around and asked. ''Is there gonna be a party tonight? I can hear people screaming one''

''Yeah, they'll throw one in you guys name for freeing them from Arlong. There will be lots of food'' She smiled again.

At the mention of party and food Luffy slammed through the doors with Sanji and Usopp. ''Food! Where!''

Nami, once more grabbed Ezekiel's arm and dragged him to the festivities. ''This way!''

''Oi! My stitches are re-opening!'' Ezekiel said, trying to pick up his speed with the navigator.

[Moments later]

''Onee-Chan!'' A running child shouted at Nojiko drinking beer.

''Oh, Chabo!''

''I just had a look at Arlong Park. It's amazing! It's all smashed to bits!''

''Pretty impressive, huh?''

''Yeah! Whoever did it must be an awesome guy!'' Chabo exlaimed. ''Who was it? He's still here, isn't he? The guys who defeated the fishmen!''

''Yeah, two of them are there at the moment. The guy with the straw hat and the dark-skinned guy'' Nojiko said, pointing her head at Luffy and Ezekiel stuffing themselves with food, where Luffy nearly choked and the other just plainly laughing at unfortunate rubberman. Only for him to choke on his own food while doing so and fought over the glass of water on the table.

''Are those really the guys who freed the island?'' Chabo sweatdropped.

''I found it hard to believe myself'' Nojiko stood up and walked in their direction.

''Meat! Meat? Isn't there anymore?'' Luffy looked around when he somehow managed to swallow the food that stuck in his throat.

''Gah!'' Came from Ezekiel that drank the water. Wiping the invisible sweat from his brows he saw somethin. ''Oi! Luffy! There's that big pork being roasted! First one there get's the butt!''

''Your on!'' And ran at the pork, intent on devouring the grilled creature.

''Dumbass'' Ezekiel chuckled and was about to walk when Nojiko stopped him.

''Hey, can i talk to you for a second?''

''Uhm... sure, yeah. What is it?''

[Sun Down, Bellemere's grave]

At the top hill of Cocoyashi, Nami sat in front of her adoptive mothers grave thing about the happenings and the future.

''It's been now 2 hours since Nojiko told me you were here and you still are''

A new voice came behind Nami. She turned around and saw Ezekiel still as he is, but with the bandages on his head off and a black sleeveless hoodie with the bandages still on his chest. Though what stood out was a bundle of sunflowers.

''What are you doing here?'' Nami asked curiously and confusion. The latter being why would her sister say she's here.

Ignoring her question he asked his own. ''Do you mind if i set these flowers?'' She shook her head and smiled. Gently setting the flowers in the grave he said. ''Goshuushou-sama deshita (Condolences)'' Bowing while he did that and sat next to Nami as he answered her previous guestion. ''Me being here is just me being worried about a friend not in the party''

''I just wanted to be alone for awhile..'' She said to herself not really noticing that Ezekiel heard it.

''Well i'm hurt, maybe i should have gotten drunk with Zoro'' Ezekiel was about to stand up, but was stopped by a frantic Nami.

''No!'' She noticed that she shouted. ''I mean... i wouldn't mind you being here'' And looked away from him.

Smiling he sat crosslegged and looked into the distance. It was a while later when there was a grumbling noice coming from Nami who had the decency to blush at that. ''Phew, i though that was a bear'' Ezekiel chuckled when Nami hit him in the shoulder he winced in pain.

''Serves you right'' She huffed. ''You don't say those to a lady''

''I've been told that i'm too dense to notice the difference between a bear and a lady'' She seemed to giggle at that.

''Hey boss, i got you some cakes and something to drink'' A clone from Ezekiel stood behind there. ''I suggest you eat it fast. I heard a bear grumble nearby'' That said the clone vanished in a plume of smoke.

Nami scowled at that. ''Did you have to do that?''

''Sorry, couldn't help it'' He laughed and offered her a slice of cake.

''Thanks'' She took the offered cake and ate it in silence. ''This isn't a date isn't it?'' She asked, probably to ensure that he wasn't trying anything funny.

''I thought you knew me better than this. If it was a date i would've brought dinner instead of the small cake'' He smiled at her and ate his own slice of cake.

It continued like that for awhile Ezekiel teasing Nami and the latter blushing.

''Come, i think it's about time to get rid of the final burden you hold'' Ezekiel stood up and offered her a hand.

She was confused. ''What burden?'' Ezekiel just pointed at her bandaged left shoulder and she just nodded. On the way back they mostly talked about what the other guys were doing, or guessed what they were about to do and all the like what will happen in the near future.

[Nightfall, Festival, Ezekiel's POV]

_''She is nicer than i thought, despite the coldness she show's''_ I mused to myself when i escorted Nami to the old doctor, for tattoo removal. Though she seemed saddened when i left, but assured her that i'll be right around the corner.

So here i am, just looking at the people partying and overall enjoying. I kinda now like this world more. I feel like i'm important to the crew.

''Ezekiel!'' I heard someone shout my name and it revealed to be Usopp standing in a stock of tables with Daxter. Shouting at me through the green trumpet-like megafone.

''What!'' I shouted back, seeing them now there made me smile a bit.

''Show us your magic-skills!'' Feeling the crowds attention to me i just smirked. _''No need to tell these people that these Ninjutsus are made to kill other people''_

Sighing i said. ''Yeah! Alright! Just make a place for me there!'' He went a level down on the stocked tables and i used Shunshin to appear on top of the table, getting a gasp from the crowd around me. Holding my arms wide i shouted to the people. ''Cower in awe! Shout in despair! Because what your about to see will blow your mind!'' Putting my hands in a tiger-seal i inhaled a tremendous amount of air and shouted. Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Jutsu!)'' That said i exhaled a huge dragon-shaped fireball into the air that was connected to my mouth. Swinging it around and making the dragon dance, i saw from the corners of my eye that the people were in awe.

Deciding to release the dragon to soar through sky i looked down and bowed. Looking back at the crowd they were aplausing at me and Usopp boasting that he taught it to me. I didn't mind it, bowing to my crowd i stopped when they wanted more. Not one to let people down i made more of these so called 'magic'. I even saw the crew looking at the show also enjoying. Luffy, Usopp and Daxter were looking with wide eyes, Sanji just took a drag of his cigar while swooning on other ladies, Zoro was asleep and Nami was talking something with Nojiko that made her blush.

After the little show was over the cheers erupted and clapped, i really haven't told anyone about this. But as a kid, i always wanted to be a Magician ever since i first saw one. To entertain people was one thing, but those important and loved ones. To just make them laugh with you, was perhaps the reason i enjoy doing this.

''The stage is yours now, Usopp'' I said to the long nosed liar, who started to sing the second i got of.

''Song #185 of 'The Praise of Captain Usopp and his partner Daxter!'' Honestly, their singing was horrendous, but as long they had fun. As i made a couple of steps forward the village kids started to bombard me with questions. _''Was i like them back then?''. _I thought to myself. Deciding to humor the little ones this time.

''Alright, i need a volunteer'' I saw all of them raise their hands. _''Yep, i definetely was like them''_. Picking a short black-haired boy that had the same stupid grin as a certain rubberman. The boy was wearing brown pants and a sky-blue t-shirt. Grinning at him i put my hands in a seal and said. ''Henge'' And transformed into a exact replica of the kid, grinning at him. It went like this for the longest night until the kids parents came to get them to bed. I even got a small hug from a blonde-haired girl that somehow remined me of Lisanna back at the restaraunt. _''I wonder how they'll take it when i get my wanted poster?''_. I really didn't expect an answer to appear in my head and went to sit somewhere with a glass of juice in hand. Someone has to stay sober.

''Mind if i sit here with you?'' A old gruffy voice asked. Looking up i saw Gen just staring at me.

Tapping the seat next to me i replied. ''No need to be so formal, old man''

Sitting down he said lowly so that i was the only one hearing. ''Listen, boy. I know Nami's going to sail with you, to be a pirate and all'' I just nodded to confirm him i was listening. ''It's a dangerous journey, i know it can't be helped'' He seemed to remember something, but still kept my focus on his words. ''But if you ever take Nami's smile away. I'm gonna hunt you down and kill you'' The old man was radiaiting killing intent at me, so i just flashed a smile at him.

''I wasn't really intent on taking anything from anyone. I can undestand your concern, but should she come with us that responsibility will be shifted to our crew'' Looking at the slightly bewildered Gen with amusement. ''So no need to get yourself worked up, it's not good for someone your age''

Taking a large gulp of his grog he said. ''You sound as old as me''

''So i've been told...'' I trailed off and saw him standing up to leave.

''I kinda like your kind of people'' That said he turned around and left.

''People like what?'' I asked, but didn't receive an answer to it so i just let it slide.

''Well, did you have fun talking with the man?'' A slightly drunk Nojiko asked me.

I just deadpanned. ''Why are you guys interrogating me? Isn't this supposed to be the captains area?''

Nojiko pointed at every Straw Hats around. Zoro was already sleeping, Usopp and Daxter were still singing, Sanji still swooning over the villages women and Luffy was about to pass out from either the amount food or just from plain exhaustion. ''Your the only one beside Nami that's still sober''

Groaning i said. ''Fine, do you have a threat for me too?''

''Gen-san threatened you?'' She seemed surprised at that, by the slight tint of blush told me she was sarcastic about the ordeal.

''Just forget it, did you also wanted to preach me about how life is like a chocolate box and that you never know what you're gonna get?'' She giggled at that.

''Gen-san said that?'' She asked me.

''Nah, i was trying to be funny'' I showed her a playful toung that set her in another fit of drunken giggle and started leaning on me.

''You know, your more handsome from this angle'' She took her hand and stroked my cheek.

''Can you please stop that'' I sighed in defeat, but surprisingly she did stop it, giving me guestioning glance.

''You aren't gay are you?'' She was apprehensive, but i manage to correct it.

''Not that i know off, i just have a weird taste when it comes to women'' She was about to open her mouth. ''Which i don't like talking about, thank you very much'' And added with a smile that made her pout.

''Fine, just promise that you'll take care of my kid sister''

I raised my eyebrow. ''What? No please?'' She gave me glare at the remark. ''Hai, Nojiko-san. I promise to look after her''

''And who know, you might get _rewarded_'' The last part was whispered in my ear and it took all my will power not to shudder. ''I'm kidding. You seem like a nice guy, something our family likes'' She said to me, making my brow raise but still kept my mouth shut. She got up and ruffled my head like a little kid, making me pout like one and to add insult to injury she pinched my cheek.

''You know, your not funny at all'' I told her with a playful glare.

She laughed a drunken laugh. ''Don't worry, it's just me taking a liking in you'' She stood up and winked at me. ''If i were you i'd keep my eyes open'' Those words said she walked away. I was just rubbing my temple, i could get some sleep but i don't feel like searching for a bed. My next destination was to see Luffy and have a bit to eat. When i got there i saw Luffy passed out on the table. I repressed the urge to sigh at the passed out villagers and the pirates alike.

Deciding now to see what Nami was up to now, i began my search from Nojiko's house. I manage to see Nami stagger out of the small cozy cottage. ''Even your drunk, Nami-san''

She was surprised that i was here, but nonetheless walked up to me. ''No, i just lost my footing is all''

''If Nami-san says so'' I just shrugged.

''Could you stop calling me 'Nami-san'?'' She asked and walked ahead of me.

''I could call you Nami-Chan, but that sounds too much like Sanji and that's creepy'' I shuddered, not that it was wrong, but i would rather keep my distance from haggard women.

''Nami's just fine'' She smiled at me, ''I thought you would be asleep by now''

''Insomnia and overall not in the mood to even try to sleep. I was just taking a stroll around here and ended up in the woods where i found you'' I noticed that she was looking at me up and down. ''Is something wrong with me?'' Apparently i broke here thoughts of something.

''Don't you have any other clothes with you?'' And looked away.

I was startled and looked at myself. I just had my ragged shorts and the black sleeveless hoodie with the tomoes in the back. ''I have some, but i guess i need to buy more stuff''

She nodded and we continued talking about my money that i stole from Krieg's ship. _''I have a bad feeling about this''_

[Next day at the Going Merry, General POV]

After the 3 days long party and lots of gastric irrigations later the Straw Hats were ready to leave to their next destination. The villagers were kind enough to help them stock up and help if possible.

''This is the last one, right?'' Usopp said to Zoro who was carrying a box of supply to the ship.

''Yup'' He replied.

A small 'poof' of smokes later there was 8 more boxes appeared on the ship. ''Phew, the people here really are kind to give us these''

Luffy just nodded. ''Everything's onboard?''

''Hai!''

''Alright then. They've stocked us with some quality food. Looks like we're ready to set sail'' Sanji announced.

''We've only been here a few days, but i feel like we've made so many memories on this island, y'know?'' Usopp asked them behind his shoulder.

''Yeah'' Luffy laughed at the memories of the passed days.

Ezekiel was though looking around, but shrugged and went to the rail to see what the bounty hunter duo were up to.

''Aniki's thanks. We owe you all so much. We're goin' back to our normal jobs as bounty hunters'' Yosaku said with his hand on his chin.

''We'll bid our farewells for now, but hopefully we'll meet again one day'' Johnny said with the same 'pose' as Yosaku.

''Take care, a'ight?'' Zoro smirked at his long time friends.

''Don't do anything you would regret guys!'' Ezekiel waved at them.

''You too, Anikis!'' They shouted at them.

''Alright, let's get going too!'' Usopp shouted with

Sanji was about to panic when he noticed something. ''H-hey! Wait a minute! What about Nami-san?''

''I thought she wasnt't coming'' Zoro answered him.

''No need to worry, she'll be here'' Ezekiel said from the railing.

''I doubt it, she doesn't have any reason to be a pirate'' Deducted Zoro. That didn't set Sanji on ease as he argued with Zoro and Luffy, who both ignored him.

''Hey! Y'know i never found that Fresh Ham Melon!'' Luffy suddenly changed the topic about Sanji leaving if Nami doesn't come.

Out of nowhere there was a shout to set sail and the group just saw Nami running towards the ship.

''She's running here. What is she thinking?'' Usopp asked the crew curiously.

''Ya'll heard her!'' Ezekiel said and summoned 3 clones to prepare the ship.

''She said to set sails. Let's do it!'' Luffy shouted

''Wait, that girl... does she plan on leaving without hearing our thanks and appreciation?'' The scarred old man shouted.

''She can't-!'' A villager exclaimed, but was interrupted by Luffys shout of orders. The anchors were lifted and they made they way off the dock.

''Hey, they're setting off!'' ''Wait! We haven't thanked you yet!'' ''Stop Na-Chan!'' ''Let us thank you!'' The villagers protested as Gen made his way through the crowd to shout at Nami's rudeness.

''Hey, you sure you wanna let her leave this way?'' Sanji asked his captain.

''It's alright. It's her decision'' Luffy answered and looked around. ''Where's Ezekiel?''

As on cue, Nami continued her mad dash through the crowd in zigzag patterns and made a huge leap towards the ship. It looked like she was about to crash, but Ezekiel grabbed her by the waist and flopped her down.

''Easy there you little cat'' And just plainly laughed at her antics as she lifted her shirt up, where dozens of wallets fell to the ships deck.

She showed his the toung and turned back to the dock. ''Take care, everyone'' While waving off with a smirk.

''YOU LITTLE BRAT!'' The whole village shouted when they realized their wallets have been stolen.

"Oh Boy. Here we go again" Daxter shook his head.

''She hasn't changed a bit'' Usopp deadpanned with his arms crossed.

Zoro added his own words. ''Who knows when she'll turn on us again''

Nami just ignored them and gave Ezekiel a kiss to the cheek. She smiled at him and began to grab the wallets.

''Shitty red-eyes! I was supposed to help Nami-san!'' Sanji shouted in his face.

''Well you didn't and someone had to help, though she didn't need to'' Countered Ezekiel over his shoulder, waving at the slowly shrinking island where the shouts of outrage were coming. Looking at Nami who was staring at her home island, Ezekiel was about to make his leave when he remembered something. ''Uhm.. Nami, can i have my necklace back?''

She snapped out of her little daze and gave him a pout. ''Can i keep it a bit longer, it looks great with the shirt i picked today''

''Fine, but i want it back sometime later'' Sighed Ezekiel and heard someone shout his name.

''BOY!'' Activating the Sharingans, Ezekiel saw Gen shout at him. ''Don't you dare forget our promise!''

He just showed him a thumbs up and grinned.

''Goodbye everyone! I'm off to Grand Line!'' Nami waved at them.

''Oi! Luffy!'' Ezekiel shouted at the ships captain to get his attention. ''Let me try something with you hat'' He took Luffy's Straw Hat and attached the pinwheel that belonged to Gen in its red ribbon. ''Here, cool ne?'' He grinned.

''Amazing! That's so cool!'' And the captain runned around the ship with it chased by Usopp that also wanted to try. At the ship Zoro was sleeping on the deck, Sanji was probably preparing a dinner and Ezekiel just laughing with Daxter on his shoulder. Their next destination, Logue Town.

I really didn't want this to be this long, but there you have it. There isn't really much i want to say here, so i just save you the preach.

The Oc eel fishman was my idea. Sure if you imagine it looks pretty funny, like the rest of the fishmen. Hopefully i didn't dissapoint someone on the fight stuff and all.

The next arc will definetely be shorter, so until then. I'm off... now!


	6. Just Your Average Day On The Ship

**Chapter 6: Just Your Average Day On The Ship.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Going Merry, General POV]

As our another journey began, Nami managed to manipulate Sanji into guarding her tangerine grove. Not that it was difficult of course, seeing that he dances on all tunes of the charmer.

''Nami-san! The security guard of love is on duty!'' Sanji shouted in glee.

''Thank you, Sanji'' Nami said to him not even bothering to look at him from her news.

''She uses him like a tool, that dork Sanji'' Zoro tried to set a conversation with Ezekiel, while Usopp and Daxter were 'inventing' something exploding. They both were leaning on the ships railings with one of them reading a book.

''You can't blame her, she's a opportunist'' Answered Ezekiel to Zoro who got a guestioning look from the swordsman. Setting the book over his face he added. ''Don't worry about me. I don't plan on getting under someones shoes, that's something my uncle has the priviledge'' Chucled Ezekiel.

''You had an uncle?'' He asked him.

''Yeah, it's something i don't want to talk about''

Zoro just shrugged at the answer, it wasn't his thing on prying on others problems and went to sleep.

Hours later, Ezekiel got up and sealed the book in the huge scroll lying on the deck. He decided to see what the others were doing when he saw two flyers falling from Nami's newspaper. The other one was a wanted poster of Luffy smiling like a idiot while the other was upside down. Walking up to the flyers he gave one for Luffy, while the other one he looked at himself. And grinned.

''Hahahahahaha!'' Luffy started to laugh and hold his own wanted poster in front of everyone. ''Check it out, we're WANTED!''

**Wanted**

**Dead or Alive:**

**Monkey D. Luffy aka 'Straw Hat Luffy'**

**39,000,000 Beli**

''39 million! Yeah!'' Luffy boasted while holding his wanted poster for everyone to see.

''Check it out! Even my back is famous now! Damn, i've got it goin' on'' Usopp also boasted from the small area in the poster that showed his back.

''I bet yo ass is going to be hunter too, bub'' Daxter said after Sanji brooded. Usopp told him then something encouraging and started to dance with Usopp about being famous someday.

''All right crew! We're goin' to the Grand Line!'' Luffy annouced.

''Yaay!'' The dancing duo cheered.

Nami looked at the grinning Ezekiel who was sitting on the rail. ''What are you looking at, Ezek-Kun?''

''Guys, check this out!''

They looked at the other poster that the Ninjutsu-user looked.

''NANII!''

**Wanted**

**Dead or Alive:**

**Ezekiel Vane aka 'The Dark Magician'**

**30,000,000 Beli**

**Note: First mate of Straw Hat Luffy**

''They even put me as your first mate'' The grin never leaving his face.

The picture was about Ezekiel with the Sharingans activated and a bloodthirsty grin, added with blood splatters on the left side of his face.

''Dude that picture of you is just wrong'' Daxter pointed out from Ezekiel's shoulder.

''What! Even you get your own poster before me!'' Sanji yelled in outrage. ''We joined what, at the same time!''

''Hahahaha! Awesome Ezekiel!'' Luffy exclaimed and gave his 'first mate' a high-five. ''Now we're both famous!'' And started to dance and sing with their posters in their respective hands.

''~We got our own post, we got our own post~''

''Once again you really don't understand the seriousness of this situation!'' Nami palmed her face. ''Don't you see this means they're coming for our heads? After this, i don't think we'll be able to lounge about in East Blue anymore''

The two wanted men were still dancing now with Usopp in the row, but the song was changed into 'We are famous'.

''You guys do know with the total of 69 milloin, even the top marines will be sent after us and tough bounty hunters after the money'' Ezekiel announced. ''From now on, we'll be in a whole new league!'' They danced, altough Usopp froze and was just standing like a statue, while the other two laughed.

''I still can't believe it! Him! Dangerous!'' Sanji pointed at Ezekiel.

''Man, what's wrong with you? You'll get your own someday so just chill'' Though that didn't stop him from getting angrier.

After they danced there was a marine ship made out of junk going opposite their direction where Luffy just waved at them. ''Are those pirates using a scrapped military boat?''

''How wasteful, the marines are. Just throwing them away as scrap...'' Usopp shook his head.

''We are not scrap! Are you idiot's blind?'' A marine officer shrieked that had a weird suit and a metal brass knuckless. ''How could you forget Fullbody the 'Iron Fist'?''

''Ain't that the guy that our cook beat up?'' Daxter asked Usopp, but was answered by Luffy.

''Ah! It's that marine ossan! Are you in trouble? Do you need us to save you?'' Were the sincere guestions from Luffy.

''I doubt they do, it's just a piece of sailing crap where they couldn't afford for better equipments'' Ezekiel told his captain.

''Stop kidding around! Destiny has placed you both into my hands'' Showing the picture of the two. ''Monkey D. Luffy and Ezekiel Vane! You two are under arrest!''

''Cool! My and Ezekiel's pictures looks good!'' Luffy smiled and just plainly ignored the proclamation from Fullbody.

''And the back of my head looks good too!'' Usopp nodded to himself until Daxter slammed him across the head.

''Dead or Alive! Load Cannon!'' After a quick 'aye' the marines took aim at the goat headed ship.

''They're so noisy! What's going on?'' Nami asked and looked around from the paper she was reading.

''What're they doing? Attacking us? They're aiming right at us, this isn't good!'' The fearful voice of Usopp began to shriek in the background.

''Alright! Lemme at 'em, i'll bounce it right back!'' Luffy prepared himself.

''You better not miss this time'' Ezekiel pointed and went over to Nami to have a decent smart convensation. As he made his way to the navigator, she put her newspaper away.

''What's happening there?'' Nami asked.

''Remember the stupid douchbag marine officer back in Baratie? That's what happening, guys saying he's here to claim our heads'' And plopped next to her in the other available sun chair.

''Not even 30 minutes and you guys already have someone after you'' Nami sighed in frustation.

''No need to worry your pretty head about it, stuff happends'' Ezekiel told her and summoned a book, only to place it in front of his face.

Nami just sweatdropped at that. ''Aren't you gonna read that?''

''I've already have read it about hundred times over. Why? You wanna read it?'' She seemed to think about it. ''It was Lisa-San's favorite'' And added a sad smile to it, under the book.

''Yeah sure'' Nami answered him, but didn't get a reply. ''Ezek-Kun?'' She called again, but nothing was said. ''Are you listening to me?'' And took the book from his face with a glare, but shot it down when she noticed he was asleep with a sad smile.

In the background, there was a loud explosion with curses and kicks, that ended up with splashes of water.

''You guys are so noisy. Can't we get some peace and quite around here, someones sleeping'' Trying not to sound too loud to wake up the misplaced first mate.

At the mention of sleep, Zoro made his way over to them. ''Oh? This is the first time i've seen him sleeping'' He announced, which Luffy, Usopp and even Sanji heard.

''Nani? What do you mean?'' Luffy now asked and opened the sleeping pirates eyelid revealing a coal black, pupiles eye only to be in the receiving end of Nami's fist.

''He has a chronic insomnia, where he has trouble sleeping normally. Usually he gets sleep when he's wasted a lot of that stuff he calls Chakra or if he's content which is beyond me, since he never is'' Daxter told everyone and lied down on Ezekiels stomach. ''So let the guy enjoy his sleep a bit'' And went to sleep to.

Sanji took a cigar from his pocket and lit it up. ''Shitty magician is sleeping during dinner-time, just wake him up before Luffy empties all of it''

Daxter was about to reply, but was beat to it by Nami. ''Will do''

She got weird glances from the crew, but they shrugged and went back to their tasks. Meaning Luffy went back to open the eyelids.

''Luffy? What are you doing?'' Nami asked in a threatening voice.

''I wanna see the mystery-eyes, its not there''

She sighed and started to read the book. ''Let him sleep and ask later''

[Ezekiel's POV]

|Flashback|

I was currently walking to the hospital from my school. The day went relatively fast, because one of the reason being that i had a doctor's appointment in the middle. Granny said that i have to get some sleep, lest i have the same wrinkles as her. I just shook my head of the memory in sadness. Usually i hate going to the hospital, but since Granny was there i put it aside and focused on the more important thing's like visiting the old woman.

[Hospital]

I went to the counter and asked what floor in was my appointment, since i barely visit this place. The smell of sterile just gives me the creeps.

After i managed to wait about 20 minutes my name was called in. Looking at the one that said it was a middle-aged woman, with the usual uniform of a doctor. She gave me a sincere smile that i found was heart-warming.

''Take a seat over there and we'll start first with the guestions''

I just nodded and went with the usual routine guestions that doctors went by.

''How much do you sleep a day?''

''I don't know, sometimes i just plop to my bed and stare at the ceiling for god knows how long''

''When did this start?''

I tried to will my memory to remember the day it started and sighed. ''About the same time when Master died and Granny was sent to hospital i guess''

''Master?''

''In Martial arts'' I answered this time her guestion.

''I see, do you have any stress lately?''

''Just the usual nervousness about the tests and all''

''How about we schedule you another time for now. I'll give you a timetable where i want you to take notes how much you sleep''

I merely nodded and she suggested a sleeping pill for me to try. It was a small sample of it for now. Thanking the good doctor i went to see Granny, but was said that shes sleeping. I was sad, but if it meant that i can see her healthier, i was cool with that. Nodding to myself i left the building.

[Back home]

''I'm back!'' I shouted to the house. You know, the average house with two floors and all.

''Hello squirt!'' My uncle Joseph came and ruffled my hair.

''Can you stop that!'' And swatted his hand away. The guy was tall. _Really_ tall that he has to crawl when he has to leave the house. I chuckled at the tought, it's something you don't see everyday. ''What are you doing here?''

''To pick you up for training!''

I was saddened at that, since my Master passed away there was only one sports event left. Football/Soccer. ''I'm not in the mood''

''Don't go emo on me, todays an important day!''

''It's just a day and there will be more of them'' Walking past him to the stairs. ''I'll go to sleep, the doctor gave me some pills to help and i'm kinda tired now so please?''

''Fine, next time you wont get out so easily!''

I just tuned him down, no need to get into an argument with the tall man. Sitting in my bed with my clothes on i took out the small sample of white pills and just stared at it. Willing to let me sleep without forcing those down my throat, but it was futile. Sighing i stood up and threw the sample into the trash.

Standing in front of the trash i quoted one of my Masters quotes. ''Do not free a camel of the burden of his hump; you may be freeing him from being a camel'' Maybe this insomnia is a part of who i am and that i should not push it away, but accept it. Glaring at the sleeping pills i went to the bed where i grabbed a book and went to bed. Setting the book over my face and smiled when i felt that sleep took me and let it take me.

|End Flashback|

[Going Merry, General POV]

Half way throught the book Ezekiel gave her, Nami heard Sanji yell at the guys that food is ready. Marking the book where she would continue later she watched the peacefully sleeping Ezekiel. At first she was hesitant to wake the other pirate, but she thought that he would be upset if he didn't get to eat like Luffy would. Shaking him from the shoulder, Nami adressed him. ''Wake up, food's ready''

Slowly opening his eyes he took in to his surrounding and relaxed. Looking at the one who woke him he got up and smiled at her. ''How much?''

''Huh?'' She was confused.

''About 3 hours'' Daxter answered him from Ezekiel's stomach.

Sighing he stood up and Daxter fell to the ground giving the human a glare. ''3 hours? That sucks'' Looking at Nami he said. ''Did you like the book i gave you?''

She nodded with a smile. ''It's really good, you have more?''

''Hai, just ask for them anytime''

''Nami-san, food is ready'' Sanji told her with a smile and gave Ezekiel a glare. ''Your grub is also ready loser, so get going''

Shrugging and not in the mood to argue with the cook he made his way with the crew to the ship gallery. Sitting down and taking his seat, he saw Nami take a seat beside him where she ate her soup in silence.

''By the way, what do you suppose happened to Buggy?'' Nami asked a moment later.

''Buffy? Oh! That Buggy!'' Luffy shouted between bites.

''The clown Buggy?'' Ezekiel asked Luffy.

''You've met 'im?''

''Nah, heard about him. Clowns freak me out'' The crews magician shuddered.

Luffy laughed at that still keeping his tempo on the food. ''Who knows, maybe he's off in the ocean somewhere''

''It's hard to say'' Came Zoro's voice who was dragging Usopp by his long nose and Daxter by the tail. ''When it comes to pirates, they're all different''

''It's that so?'' Luffy asked him.

''Yeah, the pirates that threatened me to join their crew i had to beat the crap out of them to leave me in alone'' Ezekiel said and took small bites from the meat. ''I was sometimes confused as a bounty hunter where people looked for me''

''So you were The Dark Magician that everyone has been talking about'' Zoro inguired getting some guestioning looks from Ezekiel he continued. ''It took me awhile to remember, but there was a rumour about a swordsman with weird skills. Guess they were talking about you'' He took a sip from his grog and ignored Luffy stealing Usopps food. ''I wanted to have a battle, but guess you really aren't a swordsman so there's no need''

''I can still give you a challenge'' Ezekiel replied and remembered something. ''Say, you don't look troubled about the whole first mate of this crew thing, how's that?''

''Well it has to be someone strong and that's you'' He looked from the suprised Ezekiel to Sanji. ''And your better suited than that cook''

''Are you saying i'm weaker than you?'' Sanji growled and looked back at the now official first mate. ''Ezekiel, say whose stronger. Me or the marimo!''

''Ugh, Luffy help me out here will ya?'' He tried to ask help from his captain in vain, since he and Usopp were in their own argument. ''I don't really want to hurt anyones feelings, so i won't answer'' And crossed his hands over his chest.

''Ezekiel! Show me the mystery-eyes!'' Luffy shouted wile Usopp was streching his face.

The Ninjutsu-user sweatdropped at the scene. ''Why?''

''I want to know more about them!''

Now it was Nami who asked. ''You said that those are incomplete, what did you mean by that?''

Sighing he answered. ''I still need one more tomoe each and don't get me started on the fully complete one since i don't plan on achieving that''

Luffy perked up. ''Why not? Doesn't it make you stronger?''

''Yeah, but i comes with a heavy price...'' He trailed off. ''It's something that was kept as a secret for a reason''

The crew let it go and went with their usual conversations. That included Ezekiel transforming into another woman on the table to get the same yoghurt as Nami.

''Would you stop doing that!''

''Would you stop being a pervert!'' Ezekiel countered at Sanjis outburst of being used.

''Do you enjoy doing that?'' Nami asked flatly.

''Honestly? No, i don't. I just don't like being discriminated. I had enough of those back home'' The last part was a silence mutter from the magician, but was heard by Usopp.

''How come?''

Snapping out of his self pity, he smiled. ''I was different than the rest of 'em back home, but that's a story for another time''

After that it was mostly the crew arguing about something that didn't make sense. As they ate their dinner and for some their desserts, everyone went to the deck. Usopp and Daxter went to invent some pranks, Zoro was lifting weights, Sanji was cleaning the dishes, Ezekiel summoned clones to clean the ship while Luffy pestered him to show more tricks while Nami continued reading the book the magician gave her.

[Nighttime]

The day went pretty fast for the Straw Hats. Luffy managed to get Ezekiel show a magic or two, just so the captain would leave him be. As the sun started to disappear from the horizon and the sky turned darker, the guys and ottsel went back to sleeping in their bunks while arguing in their sleep.

''Arguing with each other in their sleep, they're such weird guys'' Nami muttered as she closed the book she finished reading. Deciding to go out to get some fresh air before sleeping aswell, she saw Ezekiel shirtless and upside down strapped to the yardarm with ropes meditating. She was practically just staring him until the crews watch guard adressed her.

''You like what your seeing or is it just the moon?''

She looked away with the blush and walked forward looking up. ''What are you doing?

''Trying something new. What are you doing this late? I thought you guys were asleep''

''The guys are muttering in their sleep and i can't get a shut eye with their constant jibberings''

Ezekiel just chuckled and opened his eyes to see Nami climbing up the ratlines into one of the yardarm Ezekiel was occupying. Deciding to stop the weirdness for the night he untied the ropes and managed to sit down before Nami arrived to sat next to him. ''How may i be a service this time around?''

''I thought you needed company, so here i am'' She smiled to him.

''Very considerate of you, thanks'' And gave his own grin.

''Can i ask you something?''

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. ''Yeah, sure. What is it?''

''What did you and Gen-san talked about?'' She asked swinging her legs and looking at the moon.

''Uhm... something about if i made you sad, he'll hunt my ass down and use it as a trophy'' She giggled at that. ''I'm sure that wasn't the only guestion''

''Hai, i was going to ask you if you need some medicine for your illness?'' She was sincere about it which made Ezekiel smile.

''No need to, Nami. I have already accepted this burden as a part of me, but i might consider it'' Looking at the moon he continued. ''Anything else i can do to sate your curiousity?''

''Yes, but later'' Stretching and yawning she stood up, but was grabbed underneath her legs by Ezekiel and holded her in bridal style carry. ''What are y-!'' And with a yelp they both jumped from the yardarm down to the deck. Setting her down with a smile he was rewarded with a fist to the head. ''Don't you ever do that!'' She shouted at him, but not enough to properly wake the others.

Tending his head with the grin never leaving his face he said. ''I'm sorry, couldn't help it''

''Just...'' She was trying to find more words to say, bout couldn't. Truth be told, she enjoyed the small lift and the contact. Though wouldn't admit it to him, yet. Giving him one last glare she stormed to her cabin and readied herself to get some sleep while looking at her family photo. ''Idiot...'' She muttered one last time and fell asleep.

[Next day, Morning]

As the Straw Hats woke up one by one. The first one being Sanji, who saw the magician with his hoodie on doing katas. He just shrugged it off and went to kitchen to prepare some breakfast for the crew.

Now it has been several hours since Sanji began to prepare the breakfast, but prolonged it until Nami woke up.

''How did you guys sleep today?'' Came the curious guestion from Ezekiel in the galleries table.

''My backs hurt, the cabin smells like ass and i think i'm getting a hangnail!'' Daxter shouted, not pleased with the craped room the guys were put.

Chuckling Ezekiel replied. ''Your not going to get any pity from me''

After the small breakfast and morning insults later, Zoro said that he sees an island far ahead getting the attention of the crew

''Eh? Really?'' Luffy asked as he stretched to his favorite spot on top of Merry's head. ''What island is that?''

''Didn't we go over that already?'' Nami told him as the whole crew joined them on the front deck.

''So that's the island where Loguetown is'' Usopp pointed to the growing island ahead.

Sanji lighted his cigar and also joined in the conversation. ''It's a pretty big city''

''Yes, i've heard that too'' Nami looked at the island.

Ezekiel took a deep breath and sighed. ''The town of the beginning and the end. A great place to stock up''

Sanji just nodded with his cigar in mouth. ''They should have lots of good placed to get fresh food''

''I need to go to a weapon store'' Zoro noticed now. ''Santoryu with only one sword just won't work''

''Yeah, i wanna check it out too'' Added Usopp who currently had Daxter with him on his shoulder.

''We need to get more toys there'' The voice of the ottsel was heard.

Looking at their captain they could see the distant look in his face and readied themselves at the new upcoming adventure at the island.

A short something that i had fun writing. The other chapters will also be a bit shorter and fun to read i guess.

The alias is something i'm kinda proud of and after thinking about it, i remembered that it was a card-monster-thingy in yu-gi-oh. That't pretty fuck'd up, but moving on.

There aren't many reviews, but i'm past it. Of course i'll be grateful for the small little letters of great writings.

That's it then, nothing more to add here.

Back to watch some old movies -


	7. Of Dates and Dragons

**Chapter 7: Of Dates and Dragons.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Going Merry, Loguetowns Dock, General POV]

''So, what are you guys gonna do?'' Ezekiel asked his fellow nakamas out of curiousity.

''Me and Daxter will go see some shops'' Usopp nodded at himself.

''Do you really want to go with the ottsel?'' Deadpanned Ezekiel, after getting two nods he gave Usopp a bit money for Daxter to go shopping. ''Don't spend everything, ok?'' And got another not from said ottsel.

''I'm going to see a weapon shop here'' The swordsman was about to make a leave when Nami coughed in the enclosed fist with a smirk.

''And how are you planning to do that? Last time i heard, you don't have any money'' At this point Zoro was dead frozen, apparently reality hit him. Hard. ''I can loan you money with a _small_ intrest'' It only took a tiny amount of effort in Nami's part to suggest the loan to him.

''Your gonna regret that, Zoro'' Ezekiel sniggered.

''Couldn't _you_ loan me some?'' Asked the swordsman with suppressed ire.

''No can do, man. I gave my part to the villagers in Cocoyashi, it wasn't much but i now have enough money to buy something for myself'' The first mate shrugged. ''But with that amount of loan... i'm sure you'll live. And you Sanji?''

''I'll go buy some supplies for the Grand Line, i already got the money so no worries'' Ezekiel nodded and looked at the rubber captain.

''Im going to see the execution platform!'' And threw his hands in the air.

''Don't do anything stupid'' Ezekiel added then remembered something. ''Forget it, some of us are bound to do something stupid'' Luffy laughed at the firm but laid-back attitude

''What are you going to do, Ezek-Kun?'' The navigator asked him as she gave the direction senseless swordsman money to buy the aquired swords.

Noticing the attention to himself, he started to stretch his sore muscle ''Me? I'll probably try to sleep in vain, i guess'' Nami frowned at that and forcefully grabbed his arm as he was about to turn.

''No, you'll go shopping with me! Obviously you need more clothes'' And looked at him up and down. ''And i won't take no for an answer''

''God have mercy upon his soul'' Daxter prayed at him.

''Oi! I need more clothes too!'' Shouted the ships cook.

''Then buy on your own!'' Was the short reply from Nami a short distant away.

It didn't take too long for them to arrive at the first store. The weird thing was that it was a womens clothing shop, where Nami first picked hers clothes.

''Why did i have to go here?'' He started to grumble something about troublesome navigators.

''Because you can store my stuff with you, so i don't have to carry them. Beside, you really do need new clothes yourself'' Nami gave Ezekiel a load of clothes for her to try and went to the changing room.

Sitting in a small stool in front of the changing room he sighed. _''I guess it can't be helped for now. Though i do need new clothes less i look like Tarzan''_ The first mate now looked around the shop and indeed was a clothing shop for women. Last time he was in one was with Karen the day after her birthday. He shuddered at the amount of money she spent.

''How does this one look?'' Nami asked her companion of the shopping trip. She was wearing a tight denim mini-shorts with a white tank top and black suspenders decorated with his necklace.

''Hot da... *cough*.. i mean it looks good on you. I like it'' The thing he didn't notice was that his Sharingans were active, but Nami took it as sign that he really liked the outfit and that made her smile.

''I'll be right back with more'' And she closed the curtains and resumed her choices of dresses. It took about more than an hour before Nami managed to buy everything Ezekiel liked, which was everything. Not one to carry all of them, he sealed it inside a scroll he always has with him and made Nami pout. ''You know as a gentleman you have to carry them for me'' Then she gave him a sly smirk. ''The next stop will be a lingere shop''

Of course, being a man has it's disadvantages. One of them being holding ones nose and regaining his almost lost composure. That didn't mean he got himself nearly loosing his footing. Giving her a half-lidded stare about the task of doing more shopping they spotted the next shop. Sighing, he went along with her to enjoy himself of the coming show.

The next hour was just pure entertainment to Ezekiel as he 'evaluated' the lingerines and other skimpy costumes. She didn't buy much there, but took those he liked and were off to find clothes for the other guy. That is until Ezekiel saw a familiar face.

''Hey lad! Long time no see? How are you doing?'' The pirate that asked him to join the other crews captain was in front of them with 3 other individuals, one of them being Mary with the ever present white hair and weird smile. Deciding to not to act like acquaintances was the best solution now.

''Uhm... who were you guys again?''

The mans smile never left his face. ''Don't you remember? We asked you to join our crew about a year ago''

Ezekiel gave them a deadpanned expression. ''You weren't the only one. How do you expect me to remember every face?''

Nami voiced her voice this time. ''Ezek-Kun, who're they?''

Looking at the voice of the slightly shorted woman he told her. ''He's one of those pirates that kinda threatened me to join their crew''

''We did not! I just evaluated your strenght is all'' Huffed Mary.

''Fine, whatever. I'm currently stocking up with my crew, so if you would excuse us'' Holding Nami by the shoulder and gently escorting her out of the wall of people that let them pass.

''Weirdoes...'' Nami muttered.

''Wait! So you already joined a crew. A pity'' The captain shook his head. ''I would've liked you to be my nakama''

Turning his head, Ezekiel just grinned at him. ''See ya, ossan''

''If you don't mind me asking, who is your captain?'' The brown-haired captain inguired.

Suddenly there was a loud cry and a red vest wearing pirate flying through the air. The six individuals looked and saw a brief glimpse of Luffy waving at them. Nami palmed her face in frustation and Ezekiel just laughed whole-heartedly.

''The guy that flew just a second ago was my captain. Hahahaha!'' Still continuing laughing while walking away with the now giggling Nami. Though she missed the look of jealousy directed at her from Mary.

''That moron...'' After the short giggle she shook her head and once again grabbed the still laughing Ezekiel's arm and dragged him to the next shop.

''Oh c'mon, Nami. Isn't that enough for you?''

''Clearly not! Now shirt off!''

[30 minutes later, Ezekiel's POV]

What was easy at the shopping was that i just picked some random shirts'n shoes and i was ready. That of course didn't sit well with Nami, who wanted to buy more for me at the next shop we visit. When i told her that the scroll was full, she made me carry the next set of clothes when we spotted mine and Luffy's wanted posters.

''Luffy was right. It does look good, though my own grin gives me the creeps'' Ripping the posters off without anyone noticing we saw Zoro cleaning a marine base.

''Shit! Why the hell am i doing this?'' The swordsman grumped and threw a trash bag outside the backdoor.

''Zoro? At the marines?'' Nami raised her eyebrows.

''The guy is really desparate about the money. Maybe you should've give him more?''

She actually thought about that, but as quickly it came it vanished and palmed her face again for the second time today. ''I'll just pretend i didn't see him'' And we went off to the nearby weapons store at my request. Fortunately, no one noticed me from the wanted poster and managed to buy couple of weapons.

''Excuse me'' When i got the attention of the young man with a messy black hair, about 4-5 years older than me in the counter i continued. ''Do you do weapons maintenance?''

He smiled at me. Which oddly reminded me of Uncle Joseph. ''Sure kiddo, whaddya need?''

Taking my sword from my back and handing it to him i said. ''It's a bit dull, i was hoping if you could sharpen it. I'll pay for your troubles.'' And added my own smile.

''Just give me about 20 minutes here. In the mean time keep your girlfriend there a company'' We were both blushing with Nami, but didn't say anything more than 'Were not!'. The young man chucled in amusement and went off to work.

''The nerve of the man''

''Come on. Don't be so harsh on the guy'' I tried to diffuse the situation.

''Well, i'm going to shop some more. Don't lose my stuff or you'll pay!'' She glared at me, which oddly looked cute.

I gave her a mock salute that made her smile and went off. Looking back at the counter there was a now a bird-headed old man with a reddening nose in the counter. _''Probably his employer''_ I nodded to myself and looked around for more weapons. I was intrested at the small tanto in the wall. It had a weird aura to it also. Activating my Sharingan i saw it was emananting also a weird white light and decided to test it a bit i swung it. Looking closer at the tanto it's handle was wrapped in white bandages for easier grip and the sheat was all white with a golden hawk on it. _''Seems you'll be going with me, how's that?''_ The tanto even gave me a reply by brightening it's invisible light.

''I want to buy a katana'' A familiar voice said behind me. Turning around i saw Zoro talking with the old man.

''Oi, Santoryu-san. I see you also saw this place'' I said that name just for fun, because seeing Nami in lingerine usually does that to you.

He raised a eyebrow at my presence. Probably not expecting a familiar face in this big town so soon. ''What are you doing here?''

A healthy guestion. ''Maintening my katana and saw this beautiful tanto i'd like to buy''

Apparently from the word 'buy' the weird bird-headed man woke up and rubbed his hands together to negotiate a business. ''Yes, yes, yes- Welcome! Please take your time and have a look around! We've been in business for 200 years, you know'' I sweatdropped at that.

Zoro placed the money he loaned on the counter. ''I've got 100,000 Beli. Sell me two katana''

I was watching the small amount of money with a chuckle. Knowing Nami, he'll have to pay three times that amount.

''What? Two katana for 100,000 Beli?'' He scowled at the amount of money. ''50,000 will only get you a crappy sword''

Zoro was happy at that. ''Well, whatever you have is fine. I don't really have much money right now'' The old man wasn't happy about that remark and looked at Zoro's white katana with wide eyes. He stuttered to find a word for it and asked to see it closer. After a long negotiation about selling Zoro's priced katana, who declined it. I got a tick mark and set the tanto on the counter.

''Oi! Old man, i'd like to buy this tanto here. He obviously doesn't want to sell the katana and you're already trying to rip him off'' Seems like my words got through and gave up on persuaiding Zoro.

''Let's see, this toothpick here? Fine, that will be 35,000 Beli'' I raised my brow and felt the sword vibrate at... anger? I shook my head, maybe i lost too much blood watching Nami dress up.

''Here you go'' Smiling that i spent quite a bit of money today for Nami's and mine clothes. Also adding the money Nami stole from the villagers wallets in Cocoyashi.

''A tanto? Why that?'' Zoro inguired.

I unsheated the tanto and looked into the reflection of the shining white blade. ''It has this weird feeling to it. It's like a longing for something and i want to find out. Guess i could learn using swords in both hands or swap 'em for differnt varitations''

Zoro just shrugged and went into another argument with the old man, when yet another new and familiar voice interrupted.

''I've come to pick up my Shigure (Autumn Rain). Is he ready?'' It was the voice of Tashigi, or in Zoro's care the imagination of his deceased rival Kuina. She looked who was the guy next to her and smiled. ''Oh! I'm so glad! You're okay! Earlier, someone broke into the marine base and the i noticed you were gone. So i was worried about you'' I managed to snigger at that, Zoro has a girlfriend. She then turned her sights on me and her eyes widened. ''It's you!'' And pointed at me. ''Ezekiel was it?''

Smiling i replied. ''Got that right on your first try. Tashigi-san was it?'' She gave a quick nod.

Zoro was now beyond confused. ''You know each other?'' And took a step back to see us both in his vision.

''Hai, he helped us capture some pirates long time ago and i was grateful'' She bowed to me and then i sweatdropped at the next guestion. ''Are you here to join the marines? That would be great, an addition like you would be a big help''

''Not really, i'm here to... uhm.. see a friend of mine'' She was once again saddened, but let it go after hearing my excuse.

''I see'' Then she looked at Zoro's katana and widened her eyes, where she took a small handbook and talked abouit weird stuff i dubbed out. I was just admiring my tanto and thought about a cool name for it. I even managed to get a glimpse of Zoro just about to turn around when the younger clerk came out behind the counter.

''Here you go! There wasn't much to sharpen, so it's free of charge. Besides, i see that you bought something else from the store, so were kinda even'' Still keeping his smile.

The commotion quipped Tashigi's intrest and went back to look at the another sword. ''Hey! That's the sword that cut me!'' She put her fallen specs back on and looked at it closer without touching it.

The owner of the store also looked at his sword and gaped. ''That's a Ryo Wazamono (50 Skillful Grade Swords)'' He tried to touch it, but the cold wind came into the store and gave him a small cut in his palm.

''Sorry old man, she doesn't like being touched by non-handsome'' It was true and yes, it's a she because she's beautiful. I was about to call it a perverted-sword when she cut me across the back. I strapped the sword behind my back where the handle came from the left side of my shoulder and the tanto was strapped in my lower back for quick draw. Jumping a little to see that their not falling i smiled at my additions. ''I guess that's that, thanks again for the service'' And bowed to them. It wasn't everyday people tend your sword for free and i respected his kindness.

''Think nothing of it. Be sure to visit if your nearby''

''Will do'' Turning to Zoro i just nodded at him and went off. No need to tell _he's_ the 'Pirate Hunter' Zoro.

I decided that walking on the streets would be suicide, since i was bound to be found in the town with all these wanted poster lying around, so the rooftops would be my route of the day.

As i was jumping from rooftop to rooftop, there was a huge man with a dark green cloak and i froze. _''Shit! Out of everyone he has to be here now!''_ I yelled in my mind. He even looked at me from a good distance away when he blurred and appeared before me. Insticts screamed at me to run the fuck out, but he seemed to feel my agitation.

''I'm not here to hurt you nor your nakama'' He asked in his gruff voice, but that gave me even more reason to be wary. I started to glare at him with the Sharingans, but he seemed to sigh. ''I see you don't believe me, but i'm here to make you a proposition''

I narrowed my eyes. It wasn't everyday that you get a proposition from the Revolutionary Army no less from the leader himself.

''And that is'' He seemed to smirk behind that cloak, but i couldn't tell.

''All in their time, boy. Well be in touch'' That said he just vanished, even my Sharingan couldn't detect his location.

''God damn secret organisations seeking my ass, better to keep this information a secret. Don't want to panic the others''

[Marine Base, General POV]

''Find Luffy and Ezekiel! They must be hiding somewhere here in Loguetown!'' A marine officer shouted at his recruits.

''Yes, sir!''

On the table, there was a picture of the two Straw Hat pirates. ''Didn't i tell you that your yelling interrupts my 'pace''' Came Smokers gruffy voice and looked at the both posters in contempt. _''So he finally makes his appearance as a pirate''_ Sure, he remembers the boy with the weird abilities and he warned him about making trouble. It seems that he didn't take any heed of it. ''They, wouldn't bother to hide. It's okay, i'll catch them both''

At that time, Tashigi barged into Smokers office. ''Captain Smoker! Has anything happened?''

Smoker looked at her from the corner of his eye. He gave her one of the wanted posters and reprimanded her about her whereabouts.

She was a bit freaked out about the wanted poster, but when she looked at the name she grew angrier. ''It's him! The one who saved us from the marines! I even saw him just moments ago!''

Smoker was about to stand up and ask if his still there, but shot it down. The guy is relatively smart not to lounge in the same area too long. He clenched his fist, the youngsters in the posters are a threat and he will capture them both of them!

Hawdy ho! Another one here another one coming. There are alot of mysteries and other weird plots going on, so be sure to watch 'em.

Oh, and don't forget to review, they make me giddy.

I'm already writing the next one so this one i forgot to release, because of **you **didn't review. Yes, i'm desperate about them, it's kinda like growing peas but they taste better.


	8. To Grand Line!

**Chapter 8: To Grand Line!**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Rooftop, Ezekiel's POV]

Fuck my life. Seriously? The most wanted man comes and just proposes something you don't know? Not to sound too arrogant, but i'm i that good to be acknowledged by _him_.

I slapped my face whilst mid-air. Gotta stop thinking about that, it's going to be a problem for another day. But if i do meet him again. ''Hopefully never'' I have to ask more about the weird purple orb that's in my secret stash of scrolls and money. Looking up, i felt the wind rising little by little. ''A storm is coming eh? It's about time i move'' There were now marines walking around like crazy down there. Perhaps they got a whiff that we're here. I gotta find the others.

[Somewhere in Loguetown, General POV]

Nami did more shopping alright, seeing as she was carrying a big bag of shoppings. Looking at the raging compass in her hand she raised an eyebrow. ''The pressure's dropping. But i've never seen it drop so radically''

Sanji, who was carrying a huge elephant tuna with Usopp added. ''Now that you mention it, this is an unusual wind.''

''A storm is coming! To this island?'' Came the sharpshooters fearfull voice with a bagpack full of weird devices.

''Yo! Nami, where's Ez?'' Daxter asked.

''He wanted to buy more weapons from a weapons shop'' She shrugged. ''We have to get back to the ship as soon as possible''

''How big of a storm are we talking about?'' The ottsel asked again, but was interrupted by the lost swordsman.

''Where am i?''

''Zoro!'' They all yelled while he was scratching his head.

''You guys seen them around?''

''You mean Luffy and Ezekiel?'' Usopp tried to confirm.

''I saw Ezekiel at the same store i was, but left saying he'll try to locate Luffy'' He looked at his new swords. ''And i gotta real bad feeling about this whole thing. That something really big is about to happen''

''Oi! I found 'im and...'' The new voice of Ezekiel came, but was interrupted by the loud screams of 'Pirates' and 'Clown'. The latter made the first mate shudder. ''… he's in a biiig trouble'' There were also murmurs about some idiot wearing a straw hat being executed. ''You gotta be fucking shitting me! Usopp, Nami, Dax get the ship ready, were leaving this instant! Zoro and Sanji with me!''

''Don't order me around you...'' But a firm glare with the Sharingans shut him up and bedgrugginly made ran their way to the platform.

''You heard him'' Nami stated and dragged Usopp who was carrying the whole elephant tuna by himself.

''What's the plan?'' Zoro asked the now official first mate.

''We barge in, get the damn idiot out and leave. There's someone here that could willingly kill every single one in this island, so there's no time to waste'' Ezekiel aswered the both of them and picked up the speed. ''There will also be marines stationed around the building, so both eyes open''

Moments of constant running later they just heard Luffy announce that he will be the next Pirate King.

Taking a deep breath Ezekiel shouted at the clown. ''This execution is cancelled!''

Luffy stopped to struggle and saw his three nakamas behind the large crowd. ''Ezekiel! Zoro! Sanji!

At the building opposite the execution platform, Tashigi and Smoker looked at the voice.

''Zoro!'' Tashigi snarled.

''Vane...'' Smoker muttered with the cigars in him mouth.

''You really know how to make a ruckus. Aren't you taking this joke a bit too far, Luffy?'' Zoro exclaimed with his dark green bandana around his head.

''If it's time for the sideshow, i guess i'll debut as well. It looks like we just have to get past these shitty pirates'' Sanji told him with hands in his pocket.

''You do know Luffy that if youd died, i'd be announced as the captain automatically'' Ezekiel smirked. ''And that straw hat doesn't look good on me either''

''P-pirate Hunter...Z-Zoro!'' The citizen said his name in fear, but when they looked at the another one in the middle they shouted in terror. ''I-it's The D-dark Ma-magician!'' With those words the citizen of Loguetown parted they ways to let the pirates fight the other pirates.

''Ezekiel! Zoro! Sanji! You guys are here!''

''Roronoa Zoro, glad you could make it!'' The clown setted the sword over his shoulder for a full swing, intent on chopping Luffys head. ''Pity you're just a tad too late!''

''Not today Red-Nose!'' With those said the three fighters ran at the Buggy pirates.

''We have to destroy the execution platform!'' Sanji shouted.

''On it!'' Flashing through a set of hand-seals, Ezekiel shouted. ''Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!)'' And released the small fireballs at the platform structere, but was intersepted by Buggy's pirates, who threw themselves in front of the fire. ''I'll get closer and blast the whole thing in oblivion! Raiton...!'' Ezekiel was about to use a stronger Jutsu, but stopped by Luffys next words.

''EZEKIEL! ZORO! SANJI! NAMI! USOPP! DAXTER!'' Getting the attention of the three fighters he grinned at them. ''Sorry... i'm dead'' The grin never leaving his face, when the bright light surrounded everything. The light came from a huge lightning bolt in the sky that hit the platform dead-on. Next thing everyone knew was that the platform lit in blue flames and the whole thing to collapse on itself with the pirate captains and all. Rain fell down and with it the straw hat that the owner picked and laughed.

''Hahahaha! Hey, i'm alive! I'm ok!''

Everyone just stared at him dumstruck until Ezekiel slapped himself across the face. ''I get it, i get it. Luffy, Rubber, Lightning and all that crap''

Zoro took the white katana out of his mouth and said. ''I think i'm starting to believe in divine intervention''

Scratching his head, the captain adressed his crew. ''Phew, what a relief i thought i was a goner there''

''Luffy, do that shit one more time and i'll use you as a sacrifice'' Ezekiel glared daggers at his captain.

''Looks like the danger's not over'' Zoro said looking around.

Then out of nowhere dozens upon dozens of marines surrounded them and started to attack the pirates. When Sanji told Luffy something about leaving now to the Grand Line before it was too late. The four Straw Hats started to run toward their ship.

''The Straw Hat Crew is retreating!'' ''Stop them!'' ''After them!'' The marines shouted seeing the other small pirate crew fleeing. Some marines managed to get in front of them, but was quickly dispatched by the escaping pirates.

''We have to get out of here now! Nami and the others already have the ship prepared, so were ready to leave this place'' Ezekiel reported the nearly executed captain who just grinned.

''Let's get to the Grand Line! Yahoo!'' Luffy happily shouted, unaware of the situation going on.

''What kinda storm is this?'' Zoro hurriedly asked.

''If we don't hurry, we won't be able to get off the island. The red-eyes wasn't kidding when he said that we have to leave as soon as possible!'' The cook said and looked at the said Sharingan-user. ''Where is he by the way?''

''He's at the rooftops to tell us about coming marines'' Luffy shouted and pointed to their left at the jumping Ezekiel, but when he was in mid-air he vanished in a shower of lightning and appeared beside them.

''Guys were close to the ship, but there's a bunch of marines coming behind us''

''Damn they're persistent. Wanna stop and fight them?''

As if on cue the magician summoned a clone and setted in to road to stand.

''What are you doing?'' Luffy asked him.

''Just a small something i want to try'' The clone summoner grinned and not a second too late, there was a huge explosion. ''Seems like i still have to work on it'' He sighed.

Sanji, squinting his eyes in the rain, spotted a lady in the middle of the road. ''Oh! Whose she!''

The blue-haired lady had her eyes shadowed with her hair. ''So you joined a pirate crew'' Looking up she narrowed her eyes. ''Vane Ezekiel and Roronoa Zoro, pirates! You lied to me!''

''What!'' They all stopped and Sanji took the moment to berate the aforementioned duo. ''What did you shit-bags do to her?''

''I've already have enough reason _not_ to join the marines'' Ezekiel crossed his arms.

Zoro just nodded. ''You never asked my name, that's all'' Pushing Luffy slightly away to get in front he continued. ''I never lied to you''

''A scoundrel like you two wielding such magnificient katanas! Unforgivable!'' Tashigi raised her voice. ''Your katanas shall be confiscated!''

''Just try it'' Zoro smirked and held his white katana and the girl and Zoro clashed their blades. Zoro though was the superior of the two in terms of strenght. Sanji starter to shout, but it didn't do shit about their 'battle' as Tashigi firmly stated that this is now between her and Zoro.

''You heard the swordswoman, let's move'' Ezekiel runned forward with Luffy in tow and Sanji threatening Zoro about not hurting the lady.

The now trio of pirates were still running when Luffy said that he can see the harbor, but saw a tall man with cigars in his mouth standing in their path.

''Hey, who's that up ahead?'' Sanji asked.

''Be careful, that guy is dangerous'' Narrowing his eyes and activating his Sharingans. Smoker started to say that he'll never let the two wanted men go to the Grand Line.

''Listen Smokey-bear, i'm gonna miss you too. Tell you what, i promise to send you some nice cards about us all'' Ezekiel joked, making Smoker narrow his eyes at him. ''Well alright, a new patch of cigars. Sounds good?''

''You. Why did you join a pirate crew?''

''Uhm... i guess it was because i had a dream and that dream is embarrasing to tell you, so does a letter sound good? In your desk with apples and caramel? No?''

Luffy seemed to remember something. ''Oh yeah, i forgot about that! I have to fight you before i leave''

Smoker still kept his narrow gaze. ''Are you playing dumb with me?''

''Oi! Luffy, common sense yelling here!'' The first mate yelled at his captain.

''You two go on ahead. I'll be right there''

''I wouldn't bet on that. This is the end for you''

Giving their captain a side-long glances of annoyance he shouted. ''Go!''

''Fine, don't get yourself killed'' Ezekiel shrugged and went of with Sanji in another direction. When they got near the Going Merry, marines where everywhere.

''Don't let them escape! After them!'' A marine officer in a fancy jacket shouted.

''Naaaamii-saaan!'' Sanji shouted in his lovey-dovey mood while waving his hands when the ship was already moving.

Looking over the orange-haired navigator spotted two of her comrades. ''Sanji! Ezek-Kun!''

''You guys!'' Usopp waved back, but was ignored as Sanji was singing.

''What about Luffy and Zoro?'' Nami asked the still swirling Sanji.

''Those two louts can take care of themselves!'' And went back to his normal state.

Hearing the battle cry of the marines, Ezekiel turned around and shocked them with a well placed Raiton Ninjutsu to fry them. Behind the scorching marines more came out. ''They just keep coming and coming do they?'' And started to fry them in the rainy storm Jutsu after Jutsu.

By the time he was finishing another set of hand-seals, a strong wind pushed everything away and kept shaking everyone. Seeing Nami barely holding on the rail, Ezekiel used Shunshin and grabbed Nami before she was flung farther away.

When the wind died down, they noticed that the others were still far away and shouted at them. In a matter what felt like seconds there was 4 dots with another orange dot in the middle heading their way. The dots proved to be the missing pirates that were still in the marine infested island.

''Damn idiots'' Ezekiel sighed and hoisted the unconsious ottsel and plopped inside to rest lest it gets a cold.

Nami just sighed in relief that everyone were there with minor bruises here and there from the landing.

Luffy just dusted himself and laughed. ''It feels like the ship's gonna turn over!'' Right then everyone saw the island's lighthouse.

''The light that points to the entrance of the Grand Line!'' Nami yelled and looked at Ezekiel's face that was apahtetic. ''You ok, Ezek-Kun?''

Suddenly waking up from some kind of trance, he gave her a grin. ''I'm fine, just thinking about something''

''Alright, let's have a little launching ceremony to mark the inportance of our voyage!'' Sanji announced to the small pirate crew, where a bunch of cheers went off. Taking a barrel form the storage room, the ships cook put it in the deck and placed his foot in top of the barrel.

''To find All Blue!''

''To become the Pirate King!''

''To be the greatest swordsman!''

''To draw a map of the world!''

''To become a brave warrior of the sea!''

''To live my life to the fullest!''

As the last one put his foot on the barrel, there was a silent moment in the mids of the storm.

''LET'S GO TO THE GRANLINE!'' The captain announced to his crew. Raising their foot high in the air and slammed it into the barrel, where they all shouted. ''AYE!''

Yeah i know, it's rushed and all, but i wrote them all down to not have a writers block. The next ones might take longer, but that's something that will be found out in nearby future.

Reviews and other letters are highly appreciated, Thank you very much.


	9. Warship Arc – Part 1

**Chapter 9: Warship Arc – Part 1.**

**Note: This chapter (and maybe another) will be the fillers from OP.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Going Merry, Ezekiel's POV]

Curretly i find myself hanging upside down from the yardarm with a rope attached to my feet. ''Alright! Ready Dax!'' Looking down... or up, the precursor who gave me a thumbs up with a grin. Spinning around wildly and giving the rope a twist i stopped. ''Now!'' Daxter seemed to press some buttons on the Iphone and i began to use the momentun builded up in the rope and spun in the other direction around madly. ''Fūton: Shinkū no Tate! (Wind Release: Vacuum Shield!)'' The idea of this Jutsu is to use it like the Kaiten, but instead of Chakra we use it with Wind AND Chakra.

Unfortunately, it's a prototype and not in it's complete stage.

[General POV]

''What is he doing?'' A worried Nami asked.

''We're trying to develope the ultimate shield! Cool huh?'' Daxter told her while tapping numbers on the Iphone.

''And what the hell is that thing you have?'' Sanji asked from the railing he was lying.

''Something your brain won't like, so zip it'' The ottsel answered. Nowadays Daxter developed a dislike towards Sanji, but that doesn't mean that the foods involved.

No one seemed to take notice that the guinea pig was getting dizzy. ''Cuuuuut theeeee daaaaamn roooooope!''

''Crap! Hang on bub! Usopp, can you help?'' Getting a nod from the sharpshooter, he told him. ''Aim at the rope that's attached to the yardarm''

It didn't take much to aim Usopp's Firestar to burn the rope and sending the magician crashing to the deck twitching. Tough that didn't stop Luffy to laugh at him, only to be shaken by Ezekiel that it will someday work.

''And i tought that whatever happens you guys will always be supportive'' Ezekiel pouted.

Luffy just grinned and asked to do it again only to be flipped at with a headache. ''That's not nice, Ezekiel!''

Grabbing his head and went to stand on a railing he turned to his nakama with a grin. ''I'll go water skiing, that's bound to get me rid of the damn headache'' Jumping off the rail on top of the water, he took a steady stance and went off skiing around the ocean.

''Oi! I wanna try too!'' ''Me too! Come back!'' Luffy and Usopp waved at him, eager to be part of the fun.

[Ezekiel's POV]

''Ah, when was the last time i did something stupid like this? Probably never.'' I hummed to myself. ''I wonder how far can i go on top speed'' Deciding to accelerate and regain more speed i noticed a small boat in the middle of the ocean with seagulls flying around that looked suspicious to me. ''Well that's weird, wonder if there's a treasure'' I faintly heard Usopp shout something, probably to check what's in the boat. Slowing down my tempo i looked and saw a small girl with a weird white hat and a yellow dress with circles on the bottom. I scratched my head _''Why does she look familiar?''_ Shrugging i saw she had a mild case of fever, but nothing that a rest in a warm bed couldn't handle. Gently picking her up, so as to not wake her up. I made my way back to the crew, but this time just running on top of the water.

Activating my Sharingans i saw her Chakra was slow, but not unusual for kids that are tired. As i was close to the ship i noticed the crews eyes on me.

''Hey, i found this little one here in a nearly sunken boat. Mind if she tags along with us? She just has a mild fever and she's hungry, could you please see if you can fix her something warm to eat Sanji?'' He was kinda surprised by my kind attitude, but that's how i act in presence of children. I always put a confident and kind athmosphere around me. It helped me in my short babysitting career when my aunt was sick with her 3 children. I shook my head at the memory and walked into the gallery to set her down to rest.

Luffy came over to her and looked slight intrest, but it vanished and he went back to eat his grub. I took a piece of clothing and gently wiped the dirt and the tiny wounds on her face away. I saw she was stirring and gave her a room to jolt awake.

[General POV]

''Well looky here, the sleeping princess is awake. How are you feeling sunshine?'' Ezekiel asked the now awake girl with a warm smile.

''You certainly look more lively when we found you'' Nami told her over the newspaper and also gave her a smile.

''I bet your hungry. I'm whipping up some soup now'' Sanji informed her.

She seemed to look around the ship and grinned. ''Yes!''

''I found you passed out on a half sunken boat, there was a huge storm yesterday and i'm glad nothing serious happened to you'' Ezekiel playfully smacked his head. ''Forgive me for not introducing myself. My named Ezekiel Vane, the long nosed one you just briefly headbutted is Usopp'' He pointed at Usopp. ''The guy making your soup in the stove is Sanji'' The blond waved at the girl. ''The guy with meany face and a haramaki (Waistband) is Zoro'' The small mutter of 'Shut up' went unnoticed. ''This beautiful here is Nami and the straw hat wearing guy is...'' He trailed off and gave Nami a playful tounge.

''I'm Luffy. The captain of this pirate ship'' Luffy grinned at her, but the realization that the little girl is in a pirate ship freaked her out.

''Pirates!'' She had her mouth agape which made Ezekiel chuckle.

''Hai! We're heading to the Grand Line!''

It's was comical to watch her freeze like that, though the crew were a bit worried.

The laid back Zoro decided to make his voice known. ''What're you gonna do with that kid?''

The captain went into a small thinking moment. ''Well now that you mentioned it... what should we do?''

There was a small accusing 'Hey!' that came from the girl. ''Why'd you flicked my forehead?''

''Because one, you didn't say your name two, your doing those faces and three i didn't hear a thank you'' The grin never leaving his face, but that didn't mean she stared at him now frozen. ''Well, anytime your ready darling''

[Nighttime]

The little girl still refused to talk, but now she was hiding from Ezekiel under the blanket panicing. That is until a grumble escaped her stomach, making the weird dark-skinned man chuckle. Standing up she followed him walking to the freezer and picked out some ingredients. It didn't take him long to make a decent night meal.

''Here you go, i was worried how long you'll be in that state. I promise you, no one will hurt you'' The warm smile seemed to help a bit, seeing that she was now devouring the meal. There was a loud shriek from behind Ezekiel who looked behind him and saw Luffy stuck in a huge rat-trap. Someone flicked the lights on and it revealed Sanji, accusing Luffys 'Sleepwalking'.

''Luffy. How many times do i have to tell you? Could you just listen for once'' Sanji complained and looked to the side seeing the magician and the mysterious little girl having a small talk. The cook narrowed his eyes at the plate. ''How did you get past the traps?''

Ezekiel snorted, something that atracted the little girls attention. ''I made it of course, surely i also know how to bypass it'' Sanji stared at him a little and turned to the girl slowly eating the small meal. Deciding to let it go for once he also made a grub for Luffy.

Ezekiel turned to the still shy girl. ''You know, my Master told me that the food tastes better if you know the names your eating with''

She was curious, but her stomach grumbled more and went to taste some of Sanji's dish. Immediately she praised the blond cook who gave a small bow to it.

''Yeah, sure. No need to thank me from my troubles'' Ezekiel pouted, something that made her giggle.

''So she's finally come around?'' Nami asked from the door.

''Hai, she's really sweet once you get to know her'' Ezekiel smiled.

Some of the conversation went by arguing about Luffys eating habits and the mysterious sleepwalking. Nami, thankfully talked with the girl more and told her that the usual petrification of the pirates is the natural reaction nowadays.

''You won't sell me off?'' The little girl asked shyly.

Usopp was surprised.''You thought we would?''

''Everyone must've seemed pretty scary, eh?'' Zoro inguired, but the girl shook her head and pointed at Ezekiel.

''He wasn't'' The crew looked at the smiling Ezekiel. ''Ezekiel-san wasn't scary, he was actually nice'' She smiled at him and bowed.

''What was that now?'' The young man in guestion was confused.

''You did say you saved me, so as you said i should thank you''

''Hahahaha, i was only joking there. It was nothing, really'' Then out of nowhere a orange line runned at Ezekiel shoulder and examined the girl. ''Oh, i forgot to introduce you to Daxter. Daxter, this is...''

''What is that and why isn't it thinking anything?'' The girl was confused by now and so was the crew.

''For your information, brat. I'm half otter and half weasel, but you can call me...'' Daxter got of the shoulder and made a weird pose. ''Orange Lightning!'' Which he exaggarated with showing his muscles.

''HE TALKS!''

*sigh* ''Why is it that people fear me, Ez''?

''Because you have a mouth'' Ezekiel replied nonchalantly.

The little girl got out of her stupor and stared at the creature insulting Ezekiel. She made a awkward smile that went into a full one and looked at the ships cook. ''I want more please!''

''Right away, madam''

''Me too!'' The hungry rubberman shouted at the cook.

''DO IT YOURSELF, BASTARD!''

''Meanie...''

[Next Morning]

The crew were once again ready to move, when there was a huge explosion coming from the gallery.

''What was that?'' Nami shouted from her cabin.

Looking at the gallery door, there came the same little girl down in soot and dizzy.

''Oi, what the heck's going on down there?'' Sanji asked the girl from the crows nest.

''I'm making breakfast!'' She looked at everyone. ''Everyone, breakfast is served!''

''Ooh, food'' Luffy practically drooled.

''What the hell kind of food?'' The swordsman asked himself.

''Probably something exotic'' Ezekiel answered and made his way with the crew to have a breakfast. When they got the mentioned breakfast, it was actually a weird, burned something that smells funny.

''Ehehe... you made it all by yourself?'' The navigator looked at the girl with a nervous smile. ''It has a rather... unique appearance''

''Time to eat!''

The girl with still the weird outfit told them that on top of saving her, they also fed her. ''So from now on, i'll do anything i can to help''

''Sunshine, that's sweet and all but it's not really necessary'' Ezekiel poked the weird food that made some squichy noises.

''Are you sure this is edible?'' Zoro stared at the food and could've swore it moved. Nami got angry at that and forced the food down the swordsmans throat.

''But you really think it's ok to eat this?'' Usopp asked her.

''Whaddya talking about? It's great'' The captain muched the breakfast.

Looking at the rubberman the crew started to eat one by one. Needless to say, it was too spicy and chunked water down their throats.

''What do you know. Luffy was right, this is good'' Ezekiel muched 'happily' the rest of his food and stared at his crew with the Sharingans without the girl noticing. ''Am i right?'' There was a undertone in his voice that promised pain if they answered wrong. Deactivating the Dojutsu he looked back at the girl with a smile. ''You still haven't told us your name, sweety'' The girl blushed in embarrassment, but smiled back.

''Apis! My name's Apis''

''Apis-Chan's feelings are in danger here, so if anyone so much as leaves a scrap of food in the plate, they'll be my next victims for my new Jutsu'' Ezekiel added with a all too sweet smile, though Sanji offered Nami a different plate that earned a glare form Ezekiel.

Apis started to protest that theres no need to force anyone to eat and offered her assistant to help them on the ship.

''Well, if your really that eager you can help me with my training'' Ezekiel offered and got wary looks from his crew. ''They'll be perfectly safe, just a small tiny test'' He waved his hands to dismiss the looks. ''So what do you say Apis-Chan?'' The little girl nodded furiously that made the magician smile. ''But first things first'' Offering her a empty seat next to him he continued. ''What were you doing in that rowboat all by yourself in the middle of the ocean?''

Apis told them that she was running away from a marine ship during the storm three days ago. She said that she can't really tell them the real reason.

''It's really that bad?'' Daxter mused from Usopps shoulder.

''Whatever the reason may be and if you need help with it, don't be afraid to ask'' The magician told her.

''But could you at least tell us where you're from?'' Came the voice of Nami. Apis told them that she's from Gunkan Island and Nami took a map to look for it. She explained that it's called Gunkan Island, because the silhouette of the island looks like a battleship. The island is located near Grand Line and it's not too far from their journey. ''What do you wanna do? Wanna go home to Gunkan Island?'' Nami guestioned Apis. ''We were planning on going straight into the Grand Line, but...''

Apis looked down. ''Me? You went through the trouble of saving me and i know it will be a burden, but i want to go home to my island! I'm sorry, that sounds selfish. If you let me get on any ship we meet along the way, i'll manage somehow...''

Ezekiel just shook and muttered something about troublesome lost little kids, but it was Nami who voiced it. ''Honestly, you really are trouble. There's no way a pirate ship can go around approaching other ships''

''That's true..''

''It's not like were in a major hurry, besides'' Ezekiel started and looked at his captain. ''There might be _adventures_'' The last word managed to make the future Pirate King to grin.

''Yosh! Of to Gunkan Island for adventures!''

''Ya'll heard the guy with the straw hat'' Ezekiel ruffled the girls head.

''Really? You'll really take me back to Gunkan Island?''

''Yup'' The captain replied with the grin still on his face.

''Great! Thank you, everyone!'' And started to jump up and down the seat. The view made the crew happy, where she thanked them all and said that she'll make breakfast everyday.

[Moments later, Ezekiel's POV]

I was just sitting in the floor at the gallery meditating and to pray that i'll get sleep someday. I kinda miss it, the feeling when you wake up. It's hard to explain, but i'll get over it eventually. Feeling a slight tug at my shirt and opening my one eye, i saw Apis staring at me.

''Um, i haven't seen you sleep the whole day. Are you alright?'' Smiling, i remembered everyone asking me that guestion and it always ending with my usual reply.

''I'm fine, just not in the mood to sleep. It's nothing really'' She took a seat next to me and leaned at the wall. ''Is there something i can help you with?''

''Yeah, what's with the weird... ottsel you guys have?'' I chuckled and told about Daxter being a special case from the Grand Line and knew how to talk before i met him. I wasn't really a lying, but you got to have cover story that your actually from this dimension. She just nodded when we heard Usopp scream something about marines nearby.

When me and Apis went outside to see not one, but a fleet of them she paniced

''I bet they're here for mine and Ezekiel's head'' Luffy looked at the marines indifferently.

''Yeah, but that many just to hunt us?'' I scratched my head in confusion.

''They just know how tough we are to beat!'' Luffy grinned and slapped me in the back hard. ''We're just too strong to handle!''

I just saw Apis take a step back. ''Those ships are from the 8th Division'' We all looked at her to clarify more. ''Those are the marines i ran away from!''

Just then, three canon just were heard and just as many canonballs were coming straigh for our ships.

''I got this!'' _''__Tiger, Ox, Dog, Rabbit, Snake'' _As those words went through my head and setting another required amount of hand-seal and moulding a right amouth of Chakra. I jumped on the ships rail and swiped my arms in a wide arc, where i shouted. ''Fūton: Daitoppa! (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!)'' A strong gust of wind slammed into the cannon and exploded in mid-air away from the Going Merry. ''Bastards...''

''Attention pirate vessel! Stop your ship immediately! You've had your warning shot, the next round will not miss!'' The warning came from the marine fleet ordering us to stop.

''Do they think we're stupid?'' I glared at the marine ships.

Zoro looked from the marines to his captain. ''What do we do, Luffy? If you're gonna fight them, do it now!''

The next words made me grin. ''Ya, let's fight!'' But Usopps shrieking didn't help me to frown at him. What i noticed though was Apis looking at the seagulls and saying that another big wind is coming.

''Zoro, Ezek-Kun, face the sails south! Usopp, Sanji, turn us hard starboard! Now!'' Nami began barging orders at everyone. I shrugged and went with Zoro to face the sails south. Just then a squall hit us and the ships made a mad dash to the south.

Seeing Luffy and Usopp boast about their victory. Daxter made his way to my shoulder and pointed at the girl. I merely gave a slight nod and looked at the seagulls in the crows nest. Looking to my left i noticed Zoro doing the same and gave his own nod. Continuing to stare at the seagulls i noticed Nami addressing me.

''What's wrong Ezek-Kun? You and Zoro have been acting serious for a while now''

Zoro just shook his head and went back to sleep. I was trying my hardest to remember anything that happened in this episode. Was it supposed to go like this or was it a filler episode?

''Oi! Where's the cool wind?'' Luffy shouted. That made me remember it.

''Shit! Everyone take the sails and start rowing like madmen!'' Running to the storage and retriving the paddles i threw at the guys. They, of course started to protest about it, which made me mad a bit. ''You wanna know why were in a deep shit? Fine! Nami, can you explain _why_ the Calm Belt isn't exatly the well liked place?'' I though that i saw a brief moment of panic, when she unrolled a map and explained the situation to everyone. Jumping high to the yardarm i looked around and noticed huge shadows swimming under the sea. _''If those things attack us all at once were dead''_

''This place is...'' Nami was about to finish when a huge tremor came under the ship and something emerging from the waters. At first there was just water rising, but when it went fell down it revealed a mass amount of sea kings and we were on the snout of one. I jumped down and noticed everyone in shock and Nami running at me, where she gave a trembling hug and started to cry.

''The Calm Belt is a Sea King breeding ground and for only the _giant_ ones too...'' I didn't know should i feel nice about the hug or terrified about the Sea Kings. ''The reason you can't cross the Calm Belt is because of these things'' She finished and tightened her grip on me.

''Everyone listen'' I began to take control of the situation. ''Nobody is to move and make a loud noise. The second these beasts submerge i will summon clones to help us and row like hell'' Apparently i wasn't loud enough for Usopp who shrieked a momentary 'Why'. ''Godammit Usopp''

''THE FROG'S COMMINNNG!'' Luffy shouted and briefly saw Apis fall from the ship when the beast that we currently occupied started to move. He stretched his arm and grabbed Apis where he directed her far away from the golden frogs mouth.

''Luffy, have you eaten a Devil's Fruit?'' She got her affirmative from the rubberman and ordered him to direct to the cow-looking Sea Kings nose, where she pulled a nose hair. The beast started to cry and tremble, when Luffy was about to throw Apis at Zoro, he miscalculated and the girl was about to crash into the mast. I noticed this and managed to summon a clone that used Shunshin to grab Apis. She opened her eyes and looked at the clone then back at me. ''You too?'' I just grinned since now wasn't the time to explain.

''Just grab the clone, were about to fly!'' She did just that and i even noticed Nami doing the same on me. Right on cue the cow Sea King sneezed and we were off flying with the Going Merry, where i shouted at the Sea King. ''Gesundheit!''

''Wohooo! Were flying!'' The rubberman shouted in glee whereas Usopp and Daxter were on the verge of throwing up. Skidding through the bunch of Sea Kings we were finally off the Calm Belt.

''Looks like we're back to where we were before and no sign of those marines'' I announced and saw that Nami still held a grip on me. ''Uhm... Nami, you can let go now, but if you want i can give you hugs later'' She looked up and i noticed that our faces were inches apart. I felt my face heat up and we pulled apart while i whisled an unnamed song. Looking where my face was i directed i saw Luffy congratulating Apis and the clone, Zoro lying down from all these troubles, Usopp and Daxter trying to regain their composure and Sanji looking at me with narrowed eyes. _''Not that i care about his opinion''_

''Alright, full sail to Gunkan Island!'' Luffy pointed at a random direction, when Nami corrected him and we setted sails i noticed that my clone was still around.

''Oi! You can dispel yourself now!'' I yelled at the clone who was talking with Apis about something. The clone looked at me and gave a salute and vanished in a plume of smoke. Blinking at Apis who gave me a sheepish grin i showed her a tongue, much to the little girls amusement.

We continued to sail through a thick fog where we could barely see each others. I was humming a nice song from my childhood about fog's. _''Can't remember the lyrics, but i do know it was a nice little song''_ I didn't even notice Sanji swooning at Nami where she ignored him and asked me a question.

''What song is that? I've never heard of it'' Out of the corner of my eye i saw she was walking over to Merry's head.

''Sorry, can't remember it. It was something that was sung to me and stuck in my head'' She just nodded and leaned with me at the railing. ''Something wrong?''

''No, i just wanted to see something'' I just laughed at her. ''What's so funny?''

''There's nothing to see here'' She glared at me. ''Okey, i was kidding, but if you want to know the island should be seen... now'' Nami looked where i pointed my finger and indeed there was a silhouette of a huge ship. Kinda like when Kriegs ship emerged from a fog back in Baratie.

''Ooh, a ship! It's Huge!'' Luffy shouted from Merry's head. How did he get there without me noticing is beyond me. There was some muttering about the others at Luffys enthusiasm, but ignored it.

''That's Gunkan Island! It looks like a battleship so we call it that way'' The fog started to clear as we closed in on the island and heard people yell there 'pirates are here'. Looking closely i saw people there armed with shovels and spears.

''Nice homecoming party'' Daxter exclaimed from my shoulder and shouted at villagers. ''Drinks on me!''

As we docked the ship, Apis was first to get off it and waved at the surprised villagers. When we got down on the firm ground, Luffy stared at the villagers making them uneased

''Hey, you there'' I could tell the villagers were tense. ''Is there a yakiniku (smoked meat) store on this island?''

''Huh?'' ''Who are these guys..?

Apis then started to explain that even though were pirates, we're the _good_ pirates and that she was saved by us. The villagers then told her that some marines are still nearby and looking for her.

''Apis!'' Looking at the new voice, it belonged to a elderly man that had the same out as the villagers with a cane. ''Come here this instant''

The little girl ran at the old man while shouting his name. ''Granpa Bokuden!'' And gave a big hug at him.

''Would you look at the scene. It makes want to hug someone too'' Daxter said and hugged my head from my shoulder.

''Hands off fuzzball'' I snarled at him

''What! You let the navigator hug you, but not me? And i thought we got this bromance goin' on!'' I just looked away, but Nami's threat thankfully managed to make Daxter jump in Usopps bag.

At the small banter, the old man walked over to us and thanked for saving Apis while offering a warm welcome at his house.

''Yosh! Where's food there's me!'' I shouted with a fist in the air followed by equally eager Luffy and made our way to the small cottage of the old man, where he prepared us some buns with pork fillings.

''There, everything is prepared, now we just have to wait'' Me and the rest of the hungry guys plus ottsel were excited and practically dancing, but shot down when the old man told us it'll take 4 to 5 hours.

''I'm so hungry~'' Luffy began to sing a horrible self made song about him starving.

''Oi! Old man, why was Apis-Chan kidnapped by the marines? Any idea, since there has to be one'' I asked. It's not everyday you see 'loyal' and 'justified' marines kidnapping children. _''And Tashigi wanted me to join one''_

The old man didn't seem to know, so he also asked Apis the same guestion but got the same reply as always apparently.

''You did tell us there was a reason they kidnapped you, didn't you?'' I slightly narrowed my eyes at her.

''Oh, that was a lie...'' She seemed a bit hesistant to reply after my glare. The old man started to jibber about ancient legends about dragons called Sennenryuu (Millennium Dragons) and that their bones are believed to be an elixir for eternal youth.

''And what does the marines have to do with this? Surely they can't be involved into another islands affairs'' I said while drawing a picture of Apis part of the girls request. Seeing the old man starting to begin a long story, Apis began to frown. ''Oi, no frowning or you'll get wrinkles like the old man there'' I reprimanded her, elicting a small giggle from both Nami and Apis who were sitting next to me. When i finished my picture of her i looked around and noticed she was beginning to leave. I just shrugged and made a clone without the old man noticing and left to meditate outside for the next few hours to come. ''Finally outside!'' I began to stretch and meditated for about 3 hours when i saw Luffy slumping his way to the small cottage, probably to devour the buns. After i heard a small thud and Apis dragging a large sack full of what i assumed were the buns... _''Weird''_ I thought to myself and began to follow where she was going with all the food.

It didn't take too long when she went trough a small human-sized hole. The hole continued to the mountains where it showed the a road going up-hills. The long road eventually lead to another hole but this one was bigger, probably enough to fit a dragon or two. I wasn't that far from my guess as there _was_ a dragon. A damn old one at that. She began to feed the buns at it and me not being one to disturb someone enjoying their food, decided to sit upside down on the caves ceiling and draw them while she talked about us to the old dragon.

''Yo, Apis! Who ya talkin' to?'' I heard Luffy shout at the cave.

''Don't shout out suddenly like that!'' Another voice, this time from Nami. Directing my eyes back to Luffy who was staring at the old dragon wide-eyed and Nami shrieking in fear. I finished my sketch and watched the weird show they were putting with Luffy petting the dragon. The rubber idiot somehow managed to understand the creature.

''Ryuuji says it's okay to be friends with you Luffy'' Apis seemed to translate at him. ''He knows you're a good person''

''Ha! I knew youd had eaten a Devil Fruit'' I said out loud and instantly she was on high alert. ''Oh would you relax, it's just little old me here'' She looked up and saw me sitting upside down in the cave ceiling. I just waved at them and landed with a thud on the ground.

''What was that!'' Apis pointed at me. ''You were stuck in there!'' And now pointed at the ceiling.

Luckily, or unluckily. Luffy vouched for me. ''He's our magician. He can do all kinds of mystery magic like the mystery-eye thing''

She didn't buy that and asked another guestion. ''How long were you here?''

''About the same time you arrived, i just _hanged_ around so to speak'' I chuckled at my joke, always wanted to say that. Walking to the old dragon and patting it's head i smiled. ''You've been trough a lot weren't you?'' I didn't say anything after that, but the dragon opened it's eyelid and looked at me.

''Ryuuji says that your a good person too'' Apis translated for it and looked at me, where she told us how she met the dragon that she'll somehow find his home and bring him there.

''Yosh! Then i'll take you there!'' The captain announced.

''Excellent idea my captain. How do you plan to do that?'' I asked sarcastically while he was seriously thinking about it.

''Luffy! Were you listening. She said Lost Island sunk into the sea!'' Nami voiced her toughts where Luffy said that the old dragon can somehow tell.

''Wonderful idea captain!''

Nami just palmed her face. ''To an island that isn't on any map. Well if you say so, let's go!''

''Yosh! Let's go get our nakamas to help the old dragon...'' A small cry of 'Ryuuji!' From Apis, I continued ''...yeah that''

When we got back, we saw everyone asleep except my clone who listened intently at the old man. I sweatdropped at the scene and also saw Zoro, Sanji and Usopp sleeping. The latter with a bubble rising from his long nose. Looking around i saw Daxter under the table also asleep, but a loud shout of 'I'm already awake!' got the attention of the now waked Ottsel.

''What? Morning already?'' Zoro yawned, he was already sleeping _when_ the story began.

Sanji started to mumble something about old men, long stories and sleeping. I merely stared at the clone. ''Why didn't you dispel yourself to inform me about this?''

''The old mans story was exiting, boss!'' I just slapped my forehead and braced myself for the upcoming headache. Hearing a small 'poof' of smoke my head felt like it would tear open and lost my balance. There were small flashbacks of the old man talking and talking that made me want to kill someone. Nami saw this and put her hand on my shoulder that helped me calm down. Shaking my head of the jibbering and telling them i'm fine to the worried looks from the crew, when a villager barged into the house, yelling about a marine fleet in the bay at the moment. Shaking my head one more time i heard Nami telling everyone to come with her.

When we got back to the cave, the various looks from the others were humoring. I saw Daxter crawling back to Usopps bag, where he stuck his head from. The rest of the conversation and Usopps plea of being rescued from the dragons mouth i tuned out and closed my eyes. I tried to regain my control over my Chakra that was practically storming inside me. _''I really need some sleep, never before has this happened. Fucking overload''_

''Oi! Red-eyes, did you hear what Nami-san said!'' Sanji yelled at me getting the crews attention to me.

''Something about marines, carts, mountains and Lost Islands. Yeah i'll get to work'' Piching my nose i went with the guys to get some lumber. I decided to use my sword in this task. Infusing Wind Charka to it combined with a Shunshin to increase my speed the task was completed, before the other guys and i stacked the lumber with the help of the clones. About dozens of minutes later the others were ready with a stack of their own lumber ready. ''This enough or do ya'll need more?'' Looking at the other three i saw Nami give an 'ok' sign, Usopp looking at us incrediously, Daxter rooting for me and Apis just staring in awe.

''Guess i've got no choice but to help now. You conniwing girl'' Usopp sulked at Nami.

''I thought you would be used to it by now, Usopp'' I told him and summoned 7 clones. ''Go over to Usopp and follow his orders''

''Hai!'' They all went to the sharpshooter in line and saluted. ''What is our orders, Usopp-sama!'' I briefly saw the others sweatdrop at the image, but it was Usopp who brightened up. _''I think i made his day''_

As the guys took their time to fix the cart i went to sit down somewhere nearby. It didn't take long before i felt a tug and saw Apis again, but this time she offered me a cup of coffee.

''Here, this should make you feel better'' She handed me the cup and smiled. ''I made it all by myself''

''Thanks sweety'' Taking the offered cup and tasted it, it wasn't as bad as i thought it would be and praised her for it. Standing up while drinking the coffey i looked at the finished cart for the dragon. Looking at the clones who were praising Usopp about something i sweatdropped. ''Dismissed'' Was my only word to them and they vanished in plumes of smoke with Usopp in the middle coughing. I shook my head at their antics and just heard Nami say that Zoro will go with Usopp to retrieve our ship.

''Why me?'' The swordsman grumbled.

''Yeah, why him? I could just fry them into dust'' My hand was slightly twitching which went unnoticed, but Nami said that i'll give some extra man power to move the dragon.

''Now that that's settled bring the ship over that cape that looks like Usopp's nose'' Nami told them something i tuned out and just looked at the giant slope. It reminded me back home when me and my siblings went to slide something like that. Though it wasn't really that big, but it served it's purpose to get the adrenaline pumping.

It didn't take them too much for our ship to be seen in the sea. The old dragon was succesfully hoisted by Luffy, Sanji and dozen of clones more. Apis then started to panic about marines in the mountain.

''Ahh.. they're earlier than i expected'' Nami muttered.

''But what are we going to do?'' Apis paniced in fear of the marines.

''Relax, we still have Luffy, Sanji and dozens of him'' Nami pointed at me and several of my clones arguing about something.

''Nami, we got a problem'' I pointed at the marine fleet catching to our ship and i faintly noticed my nakamas panicing.

''Can you do something about it?'' Nami asked me.

''Let's see what show i can set up'' I shrugged and got off my position from the dragons head. The clones looked at me and dispelled themselves and i activated my Sharingan, locking my gaze at the marine fleet in the distance and started to mould a great amount of Chakra. Putting my hands in a tiger seal i took a deep breath.

''What is he doing?'' Apis asked Luffy who was grinning and cheering all the way.

''Look closely'' I heard Nami saying that to the curious Apis.

''Katon: Gōryūka no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Jutsu!)'' And once again released a great dragon-shaped fireball directed straight at the chasing marine fleet. Letting out a mighty roar from the fire dragon, it crashed into the fleet, setting it ablaze. Turning around i was greeted by the sight of Luffy with the usual star-eyes, Nami clapping, Sanji turning his head in another direction and Apis just gawking at me. Giving a exaggarated bow and waving to the sky i went over to them.

''What was that!'' Apis pointed at me.

''I could go on a long rant about it like the old man, but i'll save you the trouble kiddie'' I ruffled her head and went back to my seat. ''Guys, there's more marines coming... if you don't mind'' Those said i stared at the clouds and heard the punches and kicks going around the place. Briefly looking at the scene where the marines laid, a man with fancy, a weird purple hair and long fingernails was standing there. I used the Body Flicker once more and appeared next to the guys. ''What's going on?''

It seems that i snapped Luffy from some kind of trance. ''It's Erik the Gay Man, right? I heard you''

The area went silent and i started to laugh my ass off. ''Hahaha, that's his name? Man these mercanaries nowadays'' He was getting angrier about Luffy and me laughing at him.

Apparently the guys name was Erik the Whirlwind and also has a Devil Fruit that can cut things i guess. I saw he was doing some weird sings with his two outstreched fingers, until he swung it at us. The sudden wind went past us when small deep scars appearad in our arms and legs.

''I got it. He means 'kamaitachi' (Whirlwind scytche)'' Sanji cleared. Erik then started to boast about the sharpness of his attacks. I just tuned out the rest. _''Let's see if he likes his attacks when i sent those same ones back''_ Flashing yet another set of hand-seals and feeling my reserves getting low from the usage of the clones today i took another deep breath. ''Fūton: Shinkūha! (Wind Style: Vacuum Blast!)'' A small torrent of equally sharp wind blades was directed at him, also getting him the same scars in his fancy suit.

''How do you like dem apples!'' I grinned. He looked surprised and furious.

''What Devil Fruit did you eat?''

I took my 'Yamaoroshi' from my back and took a stance. ''None'' Was my reply. ''Wind is my third affinity and those are the best i could inflict for now'' It was true, i was already using a large amount of it.

''Yes! They're set!'' I heard Nami shout from behind us. ''We're leaving! Ezek-Kun, Sanji, Luffy!'' Those said we ran back at where the girls and the dragon were. Taking the front seat next to Nami and Sanji giving us a boost we went down the slope in full speed. Erik just managed to get out of the way from Luffy's outstretched punch.

''Watch out! A boulder!'' Apis yelled. Luffy got into action and smashed it with a barrage of punches, leveling it into smaller pieces of rubble. I started to cut the flying boulders away from Nami who was gripping my arm by now. As we still regained out speed until we arrived at the slope i felt like i was flying. We started skidding across the sea until we stopped and laughed in tiredness.

It didn't take long for the Going Merry to pick us up and tie the cart to the ship.

''That should do it'' Usopp said and tightened the rope around the ships rails.

''Man! That was fun!'' I shouted to the sky, getting a glare from our ships cook. Startled i asked him, since he's beyond his usual self. ''What's biting you up, Ero-cook?'' He ignored me and went to the kitchen to prepare a meal. Shrugging i went to Apis. ''You alright there, kiddo?'' She gave me a bright smile and i jumped on top of the dragon and lied down. ''Guys, i'm going to take a nap!''

I saw Nami nod at me with a smile and told Luffy that were ready to set sails. Tuning out the rest of the loud cheers and laughs i stared at the clouds one more time and fell asleep.

It appears that this will be done in two parts. The other one is ready, just a few adjustments and it will be updated before long.

Also there will be a timeskip after this arc, how? You'll have to wait and see.

Guestions will be answered in later chapters, but for now. So long!...


	10. Warship Arc – Part 2

**Chapter 10: Warship Arc – Part 2.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Going Merry, Ezekiel's POV]

|Flashback|

Here i was, walking to my school under the clear bright sky. The walk was about 40 minutes long, but i always enjoyed the walks. It was refreshing to say the least, but that wasn't the only reason. My company wasn't also so bad, as it was my longtime friend Kevin. Kevin was your usual friend with that blond hair of his, that you met during his new school. He came from another state and said that his mother found a new job here. At first, nobody wanted to talk to the guy. Mostly because he had the reputation of a backstabber as it was demonstrated now.

''Kev, what's the meaning of this?''

He just sneered at me. ''Do you really think i was a friend with the likes of you?'' There was 2 more older looking people behind him and i knew instantly that were not here to have cup of tea.

I continued observing and prepared myself for a retreat. Currently i was 14 years-old and those other guys looked to be 2-3 years older, so that could give them advantage in speed.

''I should've know'' Currently we were close to school and i was already running late, which meant that there wont be any help.

|End Flashback|

*Splash*

I woke up and next thing i knew i was thrown into the ocean, with the others sailing. ''So they decide now would be a great time to abandon me'' Those thoughts were washed away as i stood up on top the water and jogged back to the ship. Shaking my head furiously to get rid of the memory. ''Maybe that's why i hate blonds and backstabbers''

''Oi! Ezekiel!'' I heard Luffy shout from the ship and started to build up more speed. Feeling my Chakra a bit it was slowly, but surely building back up. Jumping back to the ships deck i saw Daxter climb on my shoulder.

''The Lost Island has been found, apparently the old ton of feathers remembered something and the guys said they found a weird ships shadow on the front'' Shrugging i went there and there it was. Activating my DouJutsu i saw it was actually something acking to a Genjutsu

''It's harmless, so there's no need to worry about it. Just get in there'' Standing near Luffy i saw him slowly vanish in to the illusional barrier.

Luffy grinned and started to play with the barrier, when i started to take possible notes of it. I do know some Genjutsus, but their enough to fool someone like Luffy, so i have to properly analyze my opponent before using one.

''I wonder if i can cast a Genjutsu through eye contact'' I mused aloud, but was heard by Apis who looked at me fearfully. Looking down i addressed her. ''Is there something in my face?''

''Y-y-your e-eyes are d-different'' She stuttered and i remembered that i had my Sharingans activated. Chuckling i dismissed it being one of those mystery things Luffy talks about. Seeing her nod and talking about that Luffy and the others told her about my weird abilities while i was sleeping.

''Ezek-Kun! Are you sure that's harmless?'' Nami asked from the crows nest seeing the rubbermans floating hand.

''I'm positive, just straight ahead'' I saw she was hesitant, but slowly nodded. As we slowly crossed the barrier it was in a matter of seconds as foggy as Gunkan Island. There were a lot of guetions coming from the crew so i decided to clear some of it. ''Everyone listen, the weird barrier we just went through is just a illusional barrier. People who uses Chakra used it to disorientate people or hide something, but in this case... something big'' I saw Apis brighten up at that and the murmurs dying down. ''So, if anyone is going to guess this is just a mirage, guess again. These eyes don't lie''

Suddenly there came a storm and rain out of nowhere and the ship began rocking around the storm. Barging orders at everyone and summoning clones to help around the ship and look after the old dragon, we saw thunder crashing down to the sea and it was getting worse by the minute. Usopp shouted that he saw a island and we instantly made our course there.

Hours later, but was actually dozens of minutes we managed to get out of the storm and saw that it was surrounding the whole island. Seeing it a bit closer the island was littered with dragon-shaped ruins and other mystical beasts.

Docking the Going Merry on the shore nearby we setted off to look around more. The place looked more like a jungle than ruins, which gave me an odd feeling that there will be something dangerous here. The rest i tuned out and jumped into one of the highest ruins and looked at the other side of it. _''This can not be good''_

''Ezek-Kun! Were leaving, come help here a bit'' Nami shouted at me from where she stood. I shook my head what felt like a thousandth time and Shunshin'd down in a swirl of leaves. Summoning more clones and breaking my record of the amouth of Bunshins made this past week i patted myself on the back and just watched while the clones and the guys were pulling the dragon.

Daxter was trying to root for them to pick up the speed while i just walked beside Nami and Apis, while having small conversation about our surroundings.

''Why aren't you helping us here?'' I heard Zoro mutter and pulling the cart uphill.

Turning around at him this time me not smiling i just told him. ''I'm already helping and someone has to keep the girls company'' He muttered something, but i also heard Sanji growl. Closing my eyes and hearing the ruins we walked in, i faintly heard some noises and haggard breaths following us and i was instantly on high alert. _''There must be two of them... three at max''_ Unconsiously i summoned my butterfly-knife and started to fold and unfold it, rapidly increasing it as the noises got louder for my hearing.

''What are you doing, Ezekiel-san?'' Apis asked me and looked at my hand. I even saw Daxter was tense at my behaviour. Though i wasn't paying any attention to them since i had my eyes closed and put Chakra to my ears to increase it's range.

''He usually does this when he's extremely agitated or threatened''

Nami was confused and looked around the peaceful ruins. ''There's nothing here, so no need to worry'' She put her hand in my shoulder, but that didn't stop me to calm and i addressed Luffy.

''Luffy...'' I said in my monotone, getting his and Zoro's attention where they stopped.

''Oi! Keep moving!'' Usopp began to shout.

Daxter made his way there and told him to shut up while i lead Apis closer to Nami.

Taking my 'Yamaoroshi' out and taking my stance i turned to my left of the ruins.

''I know your there, so there's no need to hide. I suggest you come out or we _will_ have a problem'' I said in my monotone, giving Luffy a nod they slowly started to pull the cart.

''What is the bastard doing?'' The cook yelled when the whole group and the clones stopped to look behind them. Of course i couldn't see them since i had my back to them with the sword in hand, but i could feel they stopped.

Suddenly, the whole place started to shake and something rised from the ground. The crew were tense, but Luffy told them that they should move and i'll be alright. Just then the i looked closer and i was briefly scared. What was about few seconds ago two green smokes, was now two four-legged huge Ravagers from the game Infamous 2. The damn beasts let out a ear shattering scream.

''You have got to be fucking kidding me!'' I shouted out loud and didn't care if the others heard me, which i doubt. The Ravegers ran at me with surprisingly fast speed. Deciding it would be better to lure them away from the others, i took short fast leaps sideways while looking at the creatures. ''Hahaa! Keep your eyes on the price!'' Summoning pair of kunais i threw at them, but ricocheted from their tough armor-like skin.

The chase continued for about 10 minutes when they started to spit acid at me with frightening accuracy. Hiding behind a large stone block i tried to come with a plan. As one got to me i summoned a clone to act as a distraction, but proved to be futile as they could identify the real me through smell. _''I shouldn't rely too much on those clones''_ I though to myself.

Jumping high into the air i began aiming the small fireballs at them from my mouth, only for them to hide underground and digging their way to me. Rolling out of the way and jumping backwards to avoid their onslaughts, i found myself in a pretty tough situation. _''Those things won't let me charge a Chidori even if i asked nicely, but i could weaken them until i can finish them off. Plus the __Sharingans are useless if they attack me from underground''_ That in mind i putting my hands in a rat-seal i opened my mouth, expelling a short stream of lightning at the creatures. One managed get away while the other howled in pain, i used that moment to dash at it and pierce it's head with my tanto at it's weaker parts. Screaming one last time it decomposed itself in a slimy green substance. The other one just eyed at me and i took my ready stance. It felt like it was staring at me with something i couldn't tell, when another sound came from behind me.

Using Shunshin to accelerate my speed i took my distance, just before it would've sliced me in two. Though, it managed to put a long scar in my back with something claw like arm. Looking at it, it was actually another being that wasn't supposed to be in this anime._''Okey, we got Ravagers from Infamous 2 and The Giant Centipede from an animated Godzilla show that can easily eat me in one go. What to do, what to do...''_ Those were now before me and we all eyed each other, well they eyed me as lunch but i was also hungry myself and those things don't seem like they'd make a decent meal. _''Maybe Sanji can season them''_ As my train of thought continued the Ravager leaped at me with the Centipede right in tow.

''Oi! Two against one ain't fair!'' I didn't expect a reply, but i did expect a barrage of acid spitted at me where i barely managed to escape one. ''Yare, yare. If you would be in a spitting competetion with my uncle he would be drown in shame'' Slowly getting tired of this i charged a powerful Jutsu while in mid-air from the Centipedes fast swipe. ''Raiton: Gian! (Lightning Release: False Darkness!)'' And fired a spear shaped azure lightning from my mouth straight at the closing Ravager, splitting it in two. The same thing happened to it too as its puddled comrade. Before i had a chance to flip it off, the Centipede opened it's mouth and a weird insectoid tounge came out. As it wrapped aound me i could only shook my head to the sides. ''Our first date and your already using tounges''

Whooooosh! *Chomp!*

[Few minutes later, Inside the Centipede]

''Well lookey here!'' I manage to open my eyes after a few minutes and lighten up my ever loyal zippo. What i saw wasn't pretty and i nearly threw up. Green slime, organs and bones everywhere. The place was really spacious, suitable for a cramped-up bachelor house. ''Let's see, you won't let me out even if i somehow managed to convince Nami to bail me out. So we have to do this the hard way, but first as your new food inspector we must check on your diet'' Crawling around and just ignoring the animal parts in this thing i saw a shiny dragon tooth with weird golden scribles around it. ''Pretty, this really goes with that liver of yours'' Reaching out i looked at it and sealed it in my wristband to look at it another time.

''Okey Watson, were now stuck inside a giant mutated Centipede. The first entrance will most likely be closed with those set of teeths that managed to give me some nice cuts. What do you propose?'' I started to talk to a human-shaped skull and hold it so that i can move it's jaw.

Coughing a bit, i tried to use my skills as a ventriloquist ''Well, we could use the second entrance all the way down there'' Using a random boney arm to point the way for it. ''But the danger there lies are unknown, surely a detective of your caliber can assess a way out''

''Hahaha! Watson you old bone, that is correct. We could blow this thing up or just pierce it a new one, but i'd like to make sure it's troughly decimated'' Thinking more i told my skully partner my ingenious plan. ''I can't use Wind since there's none here except it's farts, Fire is a no-no cuz i might throw up at the sight of grilled carcass, Explosion tags will be used only when i have a death wish, since i can't trust those. So that leaves us with lightning and i know just the right one, Watson'' Using one of the Chidoris variations i first made a hand seal sequence of it's parent Jutsu and shouted. ''Chidori Nagashi! (One Thousand Birds Current!)'' Releasing it all in a wide scale, i saw the Centipede spasming and the body was rapidly expanding. It didn't take long for it to explode and shower the area in greed goo.

''I definitely earned my shower'' I looked at myself and gagged, i was covered head to toe at the green shit. Even my hair got a new coloring. Deciding to grab my sword that fell from me during the fight i strapped it to my back and could've swear the cold Wind was laughing at me. Walking to the skull Watson i smashed it's skull with my foot. ''You could have warned me mister Watson''

Slightly limping back to the ship i just managed to see Zoro flying through the air with Luffys hand. As the Going Merry was in my sight i saw the Merrys head sweatdropping at my sight. ''Yeah, sorry Merry. Things got a little messy''

Apparently they were ready to go and waiting for me. ''But Ezekiel-san isn't here and the birds couldn't find him!'' I heard Apis yell at the crew.

Jumping to the railing i made my presence know them and waved at them with a frown. ''Yo'' That was actually what i managed to say as they looked at me.

''What the hell happened to you!'' Nami shouted while looking at me covered in green slime. Ignoring her i turned to Apis.

''Apis-Chan. Why didn't you or your birds tell us that there were Ravagers and Giant man-eating Centipedes looking for a nice meal?'' She even had the decency to blush in embarassement.

''I... well... you see... they said that they haven't seen them in awhile and thought that their sleeping. So there was no need to worry you guys about it''

Looking down i saw Daxter poking the green slime that was dripping from me with a stick he found. ''Daxter, report''

He looked at me with disgust, but nonetheless explained. ''After we split up from you, we heard a loud inhumane scream and thought about helping you, but the curses you threw got us into thinking'' I looked at everyone. Mostly Usopp, Nami and Apis were keeping their distance from me. Sanji looked with disgust, not that i care. Zoro was just being Zoro and Luffy started to sniff the green slime on the deck.

After i heard that the island we were in wasn't the Lost Island i sighed. _''Troublesome''_ Standing up i walked down of the ship to have a long shower. As i took my clothes off and started to wash away the filth. Singing 'Me and My Shadow from Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis jr.' while scrubbing my head. I love old-time music, mostly Frank Sinatra. Why? Maybe because Granny listened to it while i was a kid and made those cookies i liked.

_''God bless the creator of __Kage Bunshin__, those clones are currently pedaling my hot waters on Merry''_ I thought to myself and got out of the bathroom. Sighing i looked around and saw Nami with bandages and ointment. Looking around to see who was injured, but saw none. ''Who got hurt this time?'' I asked curiously.

She seemed somewhat angry at that remark and forcefully dragged me to the guys room to the sofas. ''Now stay still while i tend those wounds on your back''

So it was me who was injured, go figures. Letting her do what was necessary to get me patched up she detailed me that the Lost Island was infact Gunkan Island and that there were intresting ruins that showed weathers that time. Of course i listened to all of it while wincing when she added more force to the wounds and reprimanded me about my acts. After it was done she asked me about the attackers, but i promised her instead of talking i'll draw them. It was fine with her as we both made up to the deck, where Daxter climbed to my shoulder.

''Ah, young love. What would i give for one'' It wasn't much later when Nami managed to grab the ottsel and strangle it.

Sanji started to ask me something that i though would be something insulting, but it wasn't. ''What were those 'Ravagers' and 'Centipedes' you talked about?'' Shrugging i got my art utensils and draw the ferousious drawings of them and handed to them. ''Aren't you exaggerating a bit?''

''You think i'm lying?'' I snarled at him, something i don't do often.

''Here, let me take a look'' Zoro said as the crew got closer together to see the drawed game/anime monsters.

''The green one was about the size of Merry and i also found some weirds-ass tooth while visiting its intestine'' Summoning the greenish tooth with golden scribbles, Nami snatched it out of my hand and inspected it.

''It doesn't look like its worth anything, so you can keep it'' Throwing the tooth back to me i shrugging, i kept looking at it and sealed it in my wrist in the gallery. Seeing the other containment scroll that held the treasures from Kriegs ship i opened and there came the same dark-purple orb that Blade used once against me. Holding it in my palm i heard odd whispers around the ships gallery.

_**''Release me...''**_

I paniced and went in a immediate alert. Even my tanto went completely nuts saying the same and suggesting that we'll go get the revenge _we_ deserve.

_''Revenge on what?''_ I tought when i looked at the orb that was sinking in my palm. _''Shit!''_ I tried to claw it out, l lest i turn into an abomination like Blade the Eel-Demon. As it vanished inside my palm i looked at myself in the mirror and couldn't see any changes. I even activated my Sharingans to look at myself, but there wasn't any changes on my body. Taking few steps forward i stumbled a bit and managed to get outside to see row upon rows of marine ships.

''What are we going to do?'' A frantic Apis yelled. ''We'll be captured!''

''We'll board their ships, kick them off and cut the chains'' Usopp boldly exclaimed. ''It's the only way''

The little girl looked at him with hope. ''Wow! Can you really do something like that Usopp?''

The liar was silent for a short while before shouting loud. ''Go! Luffy! Zoro! Ezekiel! Sanji!'' And pointed at the marine ships.

''I should've known...''

Zoro seemed ready, but i ignored them and went to the ships rail and threw up everything in my stomach. I had my eyes closed and tried to calm myself down, when i felt a hand rubbing my back.

''What happened! Are you alright?'' Opening my eyes, i saw Nami there with a worried face over her features. Even the whole crew were looking at my direction and i stood in my full hight.

''I don't feel good, my stomach hurts like hell'' It was true, but it was mostly where my Chakra located. The attention went from me to Sanji, who waved his arms in front of him.

''Hey! I did not give him any outdated food!''

''It's not the food... it's something else'' I grabbed my my head and consertrated, slowly i felt relief take over me and walked over to Luffy.

''You'll be alright?'' The captain asked, but i could detect worry in his voice.

''Peachy... look i need a favor'' He nodded for me to continue and i pointed to the left of us. ''I want you to throw me there so i can wreak a havoc''

''Don't be ridiculous, your sick!'' Nami shouted next to Apis.

''I'll be fine'' I looked at my left hand where the sphere sinked and clenched it. ''I've had a bad day, my head is killing me, i'm tired as hell, i saw a nightmare when i woke up in the middle of the ocean, ambushed by a pair of freaks, nearly digested by said freaks and i hear voices in my head. So a little... outlet won't be so bad''

She at first didn't buy that and i saw she was still worried. Mostly about the voices i guessed, when Apis tugged on my shorts.

''Ezekiel-san, Ryuuji just said that your... changed'' I raised my eyebrow at that, the orb seems to do something to me... or did.

Ruffling her head i tried to calm her and the others. ''It's nothing, i'll be fine. Trust me. Just take care of the dragon and we'll get you guys out of here'

''You ready Ezekiel!'' Luffy shouted and ran at the rail to throw me to my intended area.

''As i'll ever be!'' He grabbed my shoulders and shouted something about slingshots, i found myself flying towards the first marine ship that began the circle. Firering large Grand Fireballs at the nearby marine ships and setting them ablaze, i made my way to the other one where i started slashing marines after another, while planting Explosive tags at the mast and deck. Shouting 'Kai!' to detonate the ship i went to the next one. _''No need to slash the chains, they'll be their downfall when their ship starts to sink''_ Jumping in the middle of the armed marines, i slowly unsheated 'Yamaoroshi', feeling the cold wind caresing my skin protectively. _''There's more to the sword than the eye meets''_

[Going Merry, General POV]

''Look at him go! My boy is desimating them _mano-a-mano_!'' Daxter jeered at his long-time companion.

''Amazing! He just keeps destroying ship by ship!'' Apis shouted from the dragons side that was protecting her the barrage of cannon balls that were completely off target.

''If he keeps that up we'll be out there without anyone chasing us'' Nami shouted in glee, mostly because they don't have to face the problem much longer.

''Tsk, that bastards taking all the fun'' Sanji said trying to act cool, but was inwardly scowling.

There was a moment of birds chirping and a thunderous explosion that sent a marine ship with its men sky high.

Zoro just continued observing and adressed Luffy. ''We should also make a move to help, not that he needs that, but better be safe than sorry. He's been acting weird lately'' That said, the captain and the other two fighters of the crew made their way to the front marine battleship trough Luffys rubber-bridge.

[With Ezekiel]

I was currently having the time of my life, whatever that thing was boosted my powers beyond their normal capability. Ignoring the screaming voices in my head that i guessed were the result of playing too many violent videogames, i resumed my path of destruction.

It didn't take long when a barrage of marines started to run at me from the other ships. A concussive blast of wind was enough to make them disperce over the ship and into the waters. Briefly looking at the Going Merry i saw it was heading heading to where the other guys were having their own fun. ''I guess thats our direction. It seems that what i just did was unnecessary'' There were some marines who shouted in outrage what i said and i turned my head at them, with the Sharingans looking at them with boredom.

One of the marines stuttered when i made an eye contact at him. ''I-it's the D-D-Dark M-magician!'' I gave him a mocking smile, it wasn't everyday you were recognized. My only reputation in school was that of a fighter/troublemaker, but nonetheless i was active at school. Something most didn't understand.

Bowing at him, i used Shunshin to disapper amongs them and threw punches and kicks that made them unable to continue their duties as marines for a short time. Hearing a loud 'boom' i looked at the direction of the Going Merry and saw that the dragon was taken away by a small rowboat. I knew better that to engage them from the distance. Apis life would be in jeopardy when i saw that they held her hostage.

But imagine my surprise when the old dragon rised it's wings and roared at the sky, sending a ear shattering roar where i felt that my ears were close to bleeding. I was once again stunned when the dragon started to flap it's wings and began to fly. ''Fly Ryuuji fly!'' I shouted and flapped my arms to cheer at him.

And it worked! I guessed that my cheering worked since he was flying, but it vanished and was replaced with resentment as the marines started to shoot at him. Summoning a dozens of 'special' clones i sent the to destroy every cannon there is. By 'special' i mean those exploding ones and even if they are taxing, my rage took the best of me and the results were... pleasing.

''It worked better than i expected'' I nodded to myself as i dodged yet another barrage of marines and led them on a merry chase. Blasting them overboard with a Great Breakthrough i saw the dragon heading straight at the farthest marine ship. It wasn't much longer that the dragon could take anymore of those cannons and crashed to the ocean. Leaving some clones to cause problems i jumped over the railing and skiied over to a crying Apis. ''Oi! Get on my back!'' I didn't want to shout at her, but now was not the time. She was at first shocked that i was standing on top of the ocean, but as quickly as it came vanished and hopped to my back where i went back to the Merry to support the others from the cannon onslaught.

I don't know how, but Usopp managed to tie himself with Apis, so as to not let her wander off. Briefly looking at Luffy who grabbed a harpoon aimed at him and the dragon, he threw it back. Unfortunately missing the fat greedy officer.

The dragon let another loud roar where the whole plave started to shake. Apis told us something about Ryuuji calling his kin and i looked around, spotting a mass of green flying birds.

''Are those what i think those are?'' I asked my nakamas, getting their attention where i pointed my finger at. Activating my Sharingans i took my art utensils and started drawing them, while ignoring everything. It was beautiful, there were hundreds of 'em flying above us. Hearing a loud shout i looked up and saw Luffy high in the air with his foot even higher and slammed the whole streched leg into the gargoyle looking ship. Smashing it to pieces, i heard the marines yelling in panic and shook my head.

''These marines sure give up easily when their boss gets beaten''

''Their just a bunch off wussies, ignore 'em'' Daxter hopped to my shoulder and looked around the carnage i made. ''Warn me next time when you get those temper tantrums''

Looking up i just stared at the circling dragons i continued my drawings with the help of my Doujutsu. It was pretty useful in these kind of things and it helped a bit as to not ruin the picture when a massive earthquake came out of nowhere. Right where we sailed a land of the Gunkan Island appeared below us and i was astonished. Apparently what the old man back in the island said wasn't true about the dragons living over 1000 year, but that their island surfaces once every 1000 year.

I just looked around amazed and scribbled furiously in my paper, intent on saving this memory. It took me a lot to finish every detail and as a result i managed to draw everything i found worth drawing which was everything. After a long speech from Luffy about the dragons being reborn i saw Apis slowly walking back toward us from the deceased Ryuuji.

''Thank you, everyone. When Ryuuji said 'Return me to the Dragon's Nest'. I think i understood what kind of place this might be. And why Ryuuji wanted to return so badly'' She was silent for a moment, but continued her speech. ''It's an incredible place. I understand why our ancestors built that temple now. Thank you Luffy! Now, let's go back to the village!'' Apis said with a smile. ''I bet the villagers are scared out of their wits!''

''Yosha! Let's grab our ship and get off this island! Ooh, man, am i hungry!''

''Same here! I'm femished!'' I shouted with Luffy.

''Sanji, make us something good!''

''Sure'' Came the short reply from the ships cook.

''Whit meat! Meat, meat!''

''I'll have vegetables and a big pile of bean sprouts!'' Usopp cheered.

''How can you eat those stuff! No wonder your skinny!'' The ottsel added his own words to the mix.

We started to walk back while giving everyone a view of my art. The praises that came really felt nice and the voices slowly started to vanish which was good. Turning around i just managed to see the fat officer, slashed and screaming his last scream courtesy of Erik, who set his hair back into that of a ice-cream shape.

''Man, your still here?'' Luffy asked with a lazy voice.

Erik didn't pay any heed into that and replied coldly. ''Indeed, any longer and i would have drowned'' He raised his arms a bit to take in the moment. ''Behold. This beautiful radiance. Isn't it wonderful? This is the source of the elixir of eternal youth, the Ryuukotsu!''

The guys tried to reason with us that there are enough of those bones for both of us to share. Luffy, this time in his moments of briliance declined and sent Erik in a fit of curses and outrage.

''Liar! There is no man who doesn't fear death! And for you, him and i who have eaten the Devil's Fruit, only a thin line separates us from this world and Hell! There's no way you can't fear death!'' Apparently, he thinks i'm a Devil Fruit-user like him and Luffy. I just shrugged when the voices came back. This time demanding the elder mans life on their hands. Grabbing my head in pain and looking around, i saw the fat officer still alive, but what made my blood run cold was what he was holding. The damned purple orb that cursed me and Blade.

''Hahaha! Erik! Do you think you can get rid of me that easily!'' The officer shouted. Erik was at first disgusted, but that changed in a surprise when he also saw the orb.

''Don't! Do you have any idea what that thing does to you!'' He was paniced and i was curious at the same time. I wanted to know more about those things.

''The hell with it! All i know is that it grants me power to have the bones for myself!'' Plunging the orb in his fat tummy that made a ripple effect on it, i used Shunshin to appear in front of him with my katana ready.

''Luffy! Take care of the Erik the Gay man. I call dibs on him!'' Surprisingly, the voices were silent, but i could still hear murmurs coming.

''Taking all the weaks...'' Sanji shook his head, but was interrupted when the ground shook instead. ''What the hell is going on?''

The officer, now named as Nelson Royale started to change. Though it wasn't the usual grotesque like the cursed warriors, this one was like the stone we were currently standing on and the guy looked more like a ogre from those World of Worldcraft. He didn't have any hair, but the marine tattoo on his belly was still visible, but the coloring was now purple. Standing fully, he was easily over the size of those dragons spawning around.

''The hell is he!'' Nami shouted and looked at the giant in fear.

''Now the bones will be mine!'' The now transformed Nelson shouted and made his way to the newborn dragons.

''Ezekiel-san!'' I heard Apis shout and i was already on my way and the giant man. As i jumped high i landed on top of his head and released a current of weak lightning on his head. The task was completed as he turned to me with those black scelara eyes of his that held malice and anger.

''You dare to defy me!''

''Damn right! You fatty fat ogre!''

The area was silent and even Luffys fight was held on pause as they looked at the rampaging Nelson trashing towards me in anger. _''Right where i want him''_ When he was about to stomp on me, i replaced myself with a rubble nearby. The cursed marine ogre was confused, but when he noticed me on top of his head again it was too late. Charging the massive lightning current, i released all at once. ''Chidori Nagashi! (One Thousand Birds Current!)'' There was a loud scream of pain mixed with the chiping birds, the ogre crumbled into a mass of rubble. I saw that the man wasn't breathing and that the orb dismerged from his body, where it crumbled into a fine black dust.

''I win!'' I heard Luffy shout as he used the rubber bazooka on the skytche man. Sighing i made my way to the rest of the Straw Hats where they bombarded me with questions.

''What was that orb he was holding?'' Zoro asked me as he turned to me.

''Honestly?'' Seeing him nod, i continued. ''I have no idea. The fishman Blade refused to share that with me and that other guy there wasn't on his right mind. I could've asked Erik there, but he was rocketed skywards by Luffy'' He shrugged, but i was determined to find the answer. Thankfully the voices reseded back, but i doubt they'll leave me alone.

As i was thinking, i didn't notice that the old man was offering us the buns with pork fillings. When i heard someones head being smashed. I just laughed when i realized it was Nami 'berating' Luffy that we have to leave.

I started to rub my temples, when perhaps the third time today i felt a tug. Looking at the source, it was Apis there with her own worry atmosphere present. ''You have been acting weird lately. Are you okay?'' Crouching to her eye level, i gave her a smile.

''I'm fine, thank you for your consern. Oh!'' I remembered something and place my hand on my wrist. There came the small white smoke and in my hand appeared the dragon tooth with the golden scribbles and the drawings of her and Ryuuji. ''A small something to remember us'' She first looked at the tooth then at he drawings, where she gave a bright smile and gloped me and lost my balance. The crew were laughing at the scene and i was just smiling at the grateful little girl.

''Yosh! Set sail for the Grand Line!'' Luffy shouted at us, when the Going Merry was ready for departure. ''Apis, you wanna come?'' I was leaning over the railing and looked at the gathered villagers around.

''I've had so much fun being with you guys, i'd like to. But i'm going to stay here on the island'' She was smiling at us and told us that she want's to learn more about her roots and protect the dragons here and see the new dragons born.

''Won't that be in another thousand years'' Usopp began to count his fingers of the years to wait.

*Bam!*

I gave him a hard hit in the head, when he started to yell at me. ''There's no need for you to shatter her dreams''

Looking down at the source of the giggle i saw Apis shake her head. ''I know that _i_ won't see the baby dragons when they grow up, but my children, or their children will. And we'll protect this island forever!''

I managed to chuckle at that. ''Well i'm rooting for ya!''

''Your talkin' crazy!'' Usopp managed to say after giving me a hard glare.

''You guys do crazy things every day, don't you?''

''We do?'' A completely benighted Luffy asked, where everyone of us gaped at him except me. I was once again laughing and knew why i enjoyed watching these guys journey. Setting the sail and waving at the village we shouted our goodbyes. ''See ya, Apis!''

''Apis! Don't forget the great Usopp-sama!''

''Bye-bye!'' Nami waved at the little girl with a smile.

''If we ever meet, don't be a stranger!'' I also waved at her with a thumb up.

''Will do! Goodbye, everyone!'' She started to run along the shore, while still waving at us. ''Take care! ''

''I'm gonna miss the brat'' A slightly depressed Daxter pouted. ''You thin she'll be fine all on her own?''

''Apis will manage somehow, no doubt'' Yawning i made my way to the men's room. ''She has a strong will and a good heart'' When i saw one of the nets that welcomed me i plopped into it. ''If anyone asks for me, tell 'em not to disturb''

''Leave it to me!'' The orange ottsel grinned and made his way out. I closed my eyes and welcomed the sleep to embrace me.

What! Another chapter! This fast!

I'm on a roll... well not really. I was trying to make this and the previous chapter a giant-ass chapter. So sue me, but don't. It won't look good on me which is now beside the point.

Nothing to add here - moving on to the next one

c'yall then!


	11. Bounty Hunter Hive

**Chapter 11: Bounty Hunter Hive.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Going Merry, Ezekiel's Mindscape]

''What the fuck?'' I looked around me and i was confused beyond hell. ''Last time i remember is that i was sleeping below deck, not awake and what's with this place?'' There was nothing in here except the sandy-colored walls. A room with no window and door, but oddly, enough light for me to see around without any light source. Walking to my left to see those walls closer i could've swear they were moving, but dismissed it as claustrofobia. The walls contained those scribbles you see in Poneglyphs, but with people worshipping some creatures here and there. I was fascinated with it, it looked like one of those demons you see in those rockstars albums and there were many of them flying around.

''I wonder if my Sharingan can read those'' Activating them i looked at it, but couldn't decipher any of it, but a small word. ''When you can't see clear with four or five, you will see them with all six, whatever that means'' Looking up, there were more of those scribbles that i couldn't understand. ''Maybe there a secret passage'' Searching the room for any way out with no results i began to just sit in the middle of the room. ''It fells like i'm in a prison''

''Well, it's not really a prison'' Came a feminine voice behind me and i instantly went alert and reached for my katana only to find it was gone. She frantically waved her hands to dismiss mynow resumed stance. ''Relax, there's no one else here beside us''

''Who are you?'' I started to look at her and she was a, well of course, a woman but with whitish blue hair and dark azure eyes colored with an extreme pale skin. She was wearing blue kimono with golden wind-like breezes.

She seemed to pout at my guestion. ''You don't know, buy that was to be expected. Maybe this will help'' She made a hand gesture and the cold wind freezed me for a moment and a lightbulb appeared over my head.

''Yamaoroshi?'' I was confused second time now, wasn't it supposed to be a katana?

''Handsome and smart!'' She clapped and made her way to me. ''Though, you are too young to me and i doubt the orange-haired girl would like you dating a katana''

''W-what?'' It seems i wasn't listening.

''Nothing, sweety'' And gave a shy smile when she snapped her fingers. ''Oh! And i am your katana! I always wanted to say thank you for saving me!'' She shouted and hugged me tightly.

''Save you from what?''

''From the loneliness, you see i don't have much memories from my past and i was stuck in a ground for so long. Pirates and other ugly men started to touch me and i shreddered their hands'' I gulped at that, it could've been me! ''But of course, i wouldn't do anything to you'' And rubbed my cheek.

''Uhm... your welcome?'' Normally a lot of people would be confused with this weird katana-girls antics, but i found it was funny. ''So, where are we?''

She perked up and started to jump up and down. ''Were in you mindscape! Here we can talk, have a tea party, invite people perhaps''

''My mind?'' I looked around while scratching my head. ''It sure looks... unique''

''The place does need renovation, but it's not like i'm here all the time. Did you know you have a strong back?''

''…no i didn't?''

''Well, you have one. I like many things, but men with strong backs are hot''

''Uhm... thanks, that's a nice compliment'' I blushed, which again looked weird in my dark-skin and gave me an odd contrast. Unfortunately for me 'Yama' as i'd like to call her now, saw it and shrieked like a fangirl.

''So cute!'' She pinched my cheeks with both hands and smiled like a 5 year-old.

''And your supposed to be older than me?''

''Maybe couple of centuries, give or take a few''

I sweatdropped at that, but i wasn't gonna say she was old lest she'll shread and freeze my butt. And i like my butt warm and intact thank you very much.

''Do you know what those scribbles mean?'' I asked her curiously through my streched cheeks.

''This is supposed to be your mind, so i'm as clueless as you''

''I was afraid of that'' I looked around for something, but couldn't find it. ''Do you know how i get out of here and how i'll get access back here?''

She smiled and started to swirl around me. ''Just consertrate on the outside of this room, and to get in do the same but reversed''

I dumbly nodded and did what she told me, but not before promising that i'll visit this place more often.

[Outside Mindscape]

I slowly began to open my eyes and was greeted by the sight of light blue hair in front of me. At first i thought it was Yama, but this one here looked familiar and was inspecing my face closer.

''You have three seconds to move before i cleave your head off'' i'm usually not his groggy when woken up, but i felt like hitting someone and it was damn cold in here.

The weird girl was startled by my threat and jumped back. Getting out of the bed-net i stretched while looking at the shivering girl in front of me. She started to apologize and beg that i spare her. _''Weirdo''_

''Forget it, who are you and where are the others?'' I asked in my monotone, still unnerving her.

''I-i'm -Wednesday, your friends were friendly enough to escort us to our island'' Staring at her with no expression i smiled a bit.

''Please refraine from doing that again, it means bad luck if you wake a man up. Or that's how my Master told me and i had to learn it the hard way'' She slowly nodded and i made my way to the gallery followed by the blue-haired girl. At first nobody seemed to notice us and there was only Nami in a jacket freezing. Looking to my left there was another weird dude with number nines on his cheeks and a crown. ''Yo, Nami. What's going on?''

The navigator in guestion looked at me in surprise and ran at me, giving me a hug. ''We all though you were sick! What happened, are you alright?''

_''Well this is new''_ ''I don't know what your talking about, mind clearing me up?''

''You were out cold for 4 days! I... We thought you were sick or worse?'' Relief was visible on her face.

''What! 4 days, that has to be a new record!'' I was completely flabbergasted, what felt like few hours in that weird room was actually 4 whole days! ''And were already at Grand Line?'' She nodded while smiling widely. I went outside the gallery and saw Luffy, Usopp and Daxter snowfighting and shouted at them. ''Oi! Were really in Grand Line!''

They looked up and widened their eyes. ''Ezekiel!'' They all shouted and i felt Luffys rubber hands on my shoulder, next thing i knew i found myself in the deck hogpiled by them. ''Your not sick!''

''I wasn't sick and get off me!''

''Well atleast your not dead and that's what matters'' Sanji said shoveling the snow off the ship. I just shrugged and played some snowgames with the guys where we managed to imprison Usopp and Daxter in a snowprison.

Deciding it was enough i made my way back to the gallery and saw Nami shouting at the shivering guests. Looking at the duo, i willed myself to remember them. _''It's not like their any threat''_

I heard Nami mumble something about the weather and calling us amateurs. ''Well excuse me Ms.I-Peek-On-People-While-Their-Asleep, but she happens to be _the_ best navigator this world has to offer and Grand Lines got no chance on our girl!'' The gallery was silent as i defended my nakama. Looking at Nami who game me a grateful smile which i returned. ''You guys do have a Log Pose?'' I tried to ensure myself that they got one, but instead got her to scream and shout orders that the ship must be turned around 180 degrees.

It didn't take us too long to follow those orders and Nami to fume about the 'small' mistake. ''Are you really a navigator?'' The crown-headed idiot asked.

I gave them a hard glare with the Sharingans which made them both uncomfortable. ''One more word and you guys will find yourselves without vocal cords'' That made them shut up and hide themselvels under their blankets. Making my way to the slightly depressed navigator i tried to lift up her mood. ''Listen, the sea here is unpredictable and you can only trust your Log Pose there. You seem like someone who enjoys challenging the weather, so there's one right now'' Walking to the deck to help the others i turned to Nami ''I trust you to get us out here, can you do that?''

She seemed to get a new burst of confidence and barged more orders at us. The weather just kept changing and changing. There wasn't any need for clones as the other two guests helped around the ship. It didn't take us long before we spotted a huge iceberg and we were going to crash on it.

''Turn the ship hard starboard, i'll help a little!'' I shouted as i saw that the ship will be baddly scraped if we don't make that turn. Jumping on Merrys head and using my trusted Katon ninjutsu, the Grand Fireball to melt the side of the iceberg, we managed to evade it just in time without heavy injuries.

That wasn't our only problem now as the wind picked up and more people were running around. There was also appeared a leak below the deck that Usopp went and started to fix.

''The sails are tearing apart! Ezek-Kun a little help here!''

''On it!'' I jumped to the yardarm with some sewing equipments and went to work. After i was done i quickly took dozens of those riceballs Sanji made to maintain our strenghts.

After a long and hard run-arounds later, we were exhausted and tired. We were all sprawled around the deck when i heard someone yawn.

''Good nap'' I heard Zoro strech and look around. ''Oi, oi. Aren't you guys being a little lazy on a nice day like this? You know where we're headed, right?''

''Apparently i wasn't the only one that was in a near comatose state'' I announced and walked up to our swordsman.

''Oh'' He managed to say, surprise evident in his voice. ''Your finally awake, what was with you anyways?''

''Sleep decifit, i suspected it would come sometime around but not this soon'' He shrugged, but i also saw that he sighed a bit in relief. Or i though it was, but it could have been a sigh of annoyance when he looked at our guests. ''Why're you two on board?''

Luckily it was Luffy who answered him, since i had no clue. ''We're heading towards their town. The place's called Whiskey Peak''

''Whiskey Peak?'' I asked surprised. ''Where have i heard of that place before?'' And sat on the deck crosslegged and my hands over my chest in a thinking pose. ''Something about graveyards and money collection''

The other two weirdoes paniced a bit, but started to sweat more when Zoro asked their names in a threatening manner.

''Please call me Mr. 9.''

''I'm Miss Wednesday''

''Really. I've been thinking about those names since i first heard them. Maybe i've heard them before, maybe i haven't. Well, either way...'' He was about to continue when Nami placed a hard punch in the back of his head. There was rage and fury mixed in her eyes and i was slowly edging away from her.

''**You**'' She addressed him with venom on her voice. ''I hope you enjoyed taking that little _nap_ of yours. Snoring away, no matter how much we tried to wake you''

Zoro now pointed at me and yelled. ''You didn't wake him up when we crossed the Reverse Mountain and eaten by a giant whale!''

''Atleast he gets some sleep, lest he'll die on us!'' And managed to give a Zoro few extra bumps on his head.

''I appreciate your consern'' I smiled at her, which she purposefully ignored and made a statement.

''Everyone, stay on your toes. Who knows what might happen next'' She announced loudly. ''I can finally grasp the fearsomeness of this ocean. I understand why they call it the Grand Line'' She clenched her fist. ''But it hasn't even begun to see _my_ navigation skills! Bet on it!''

That was motivating to say the least and i shouted with Daxter, with our fists/paw in the air. ''ARO!'' The crew looked at me weirdly when i shouted the spartan warcry. ''Sorry, something my people shout when motivated'' I grinned at them. _''By my people i meant me and my small army of siblings after watching the film 300'' _Thankfully they let it go.

The rest i tuned out when i looked at the island covered in fog, but i noticed the two weirdoes jump of the rail and swimmed to the island.

''There they go''

''Who were those guys?

''Those guys look ludicrous'' Came from Usopp, Nami and Daxter.

''Who cares? We're here!'' Luffy shouted from Merrys head. ''There's a river mouth up ahead''

''You don't think there'll be monsters and stuff here, do you?'' A fearful Usopp asked around him.

''Grand Line is famous for it's bloodthirsty monsters, there's also a rumour about a devil hidden among us. Ridiculous isn't it?'' Well that was what i heard from the old man back at the restaraunt in Baratie.

''If we meet some monsters, we can just leave, right?'' A curious Luffy asked.

''No, we can't. Don't forget there is a certain amount of time we have to stay on this island'' Our navigator told everyone and also about the Log Pose to adapt this island's magnetic field. I already knew that, but i was trying hard to remember what's going to happen here and now. Snapping out of my daze i hopped on top of the yardarm and looked around with my Doujutsu.

_''So it was this one...''_ I thought to myself as i licked my lips. _''...The fun begins here''_

Jumping back to the deck i just heard Nami say something. ''But remember, be prepared to run or fight at any time''

Usopp started to mumble about his weird disease, when Daxter jumped on my shoulder and whispered. ''There are dozens individuals scattered around with ill intent, what should we do?''

''Proceed as planned, we're going to set a record tonight'' We both grinned, but nobody saw it throught the thick fog.

When we got closer there were more of those human-shaped silhouttes around us. Everyone was on guard except me since i knew they weren't any major threat. As the fog diminished we saw a lot of people cheering at us.

''Welcome to the Grand Line! Welcome to our town the town of celebration... Whiskey Peak!''

Daxter gave me a nod which i returned and changed my face into one of emotionless mask. It was useful when aproaching people, making them less poised and more prone to mistakes.

''The Monster island is... welcoming us?'' Usopp sighed somewhat in relief.

The cheers continued until we aproached the dock where the tall, burly blonde with a saxophone named Igarappoi. The guy was welcoming us and presented itself as the mayor of Whiskey Peak. Our captain gave a short presentation of himself and 'complimented' the guys curly hair.

''This is the town of spirit brewing and lively music, Whiskey Peak! We take pride in our hospitality. We have an entire ocean of spirits for your enjoyment. Would you care to join us in celebration and share stories of your adventures? We would be~'' He coughed in his enclosed palm. ''Mah-Mah-maaah~! We would be delighted to hear them''

''OUR PLEASURE!'' Luffy, Sanji and Usopp shouted with glee and started to dance.

I was standing behind Nami and Zoro, still with the mask on and Daxter trying to imitate me, but gave up and went to sleep on my shoulder with his tail around my neck. Nami asked the mayor about the Log Pose to set itself, but didn't get an answer to it and shouted a cheer to the crowd surrounding us.

Briefly looking at Zoro who was thinking for once i shrugged and observed the villagers.

[Nighttime]

After our arrival the towns people sure as hell know how to party. Music, food, grog and more food for Luffy. I was sitting in a green sofa with Nami and Zoro with a empty plate of food next to me and i looked around.

_''Usopp's telling a 'slightly' phony version of our small visit in Calm Belt where his victims listened eagerly and Daxter and one of my clone are currently readying my equipments for the night'' _My train of thought was broken by Igarappoi who offered us some wine. I was about to decline, when Nami beat me to it.

''Oh no, really. I'm fine without alcohol'' She politely refused.

''Don't worry-*Cough*-Mah-mah-maaah~! Don't worry yourself. This is our finest wine, made from the highest quality grapes on the island. Our Special Drink. Although it is called the Wine of the Sea, there's little alcohol in it''

Zoro was looking at his wine while Nami took a small sip of it. ''It's delicious!'' She offered the same wine to me. ''Have a taste, it's really good!''

''No thanks, alcohol and me don't go hand in hand''

''There's nothing to worry about the taste, this year's grape harvest was exceptional'' He threw his hands in the air. ''And to celebrate the harvest, our traditional Kanpai Contest!'' I gave the curly man stare, which seemed to put him on guard, but sadly managed to regain his composure and explained the rules and the prize of the Contest.

Nami still refused, but couldn't refuse the 100,000 beli in cash as the prize of the Contest. ''Fill 'er up!'' She looked at me and Zoro. ''You two will take part too since Zoro needs the money''

''I don't need the money and Zoro's on his own, so you guys can do what ever you want'' That said i leaned on the sofa still with the emotionless mask and monotone voice, but that didn't stop a villager to aproach me.

''You must be tired and those weapons of yours look uncomfortable. I could put them in our safe for the night'' The tanto was slightly vibrating from the mans presence, probably eager to fight someone and anyone. Giving the man a cold stare and stopping him on tracks i threatened him.

''One more step and it will be your last'' I hissed getting some wary looks around. Standing up and studying Igarappoi i said that i'll take a small walk. I managed to make about dozens of steps outside when i heard footsteps of three men. ''So you decided to join me on my little walk?''

''You obviously look the most dangerous of the lot, so we'll deal with you first'' One of the men said to me.

Shaking my head and not turning my back to them i adressed them. ''You'd do well not to underestimate me...'' Hearing three more steps behind my would-be attackers i continued. '''...since the distance between our powers...''

*Crack!* *Thud!*

''...is non-existent'' Turning around i saw three of my clones behind my unmoving assailants. ''Hide the bodies and resume your position. It's time we have our fun'' Their reply was three identical mischievous grins that vanished in a column of flames with the bodies.

Jumping on top of the rooftop and 'owling' the partiers inside the building i took a stoic expession. _''Had i been a real Shinobi from an actual village i would be a straight AnBu material with this one here''_ I gloated to myself and sounded a bit like Usopp, those Shinobies though have the support of real senseis while i don't.

By now Nami and Zoro are drinking their ass off in the Contest, Luffy getting rounder and rounder, Sanji... well you know that and Usopp still in his elements, but now it was about him getting eaten by the damn Centipede by saving me. ''The long nose will get what's coming to him, but i guess that was enough of my 'little' walk'' That said, i strutted back to the building. Gotta say, i loved the curly blonds momentary shock in his generous expression. Still keeping my mask of no-emotion i walked up to him and gave one of those smiles that Daxter classified as 'Creepy and Deranged' the man was sweating and i walked to the same green sofa that Zoro passed down.

''I WIN!'' Hearing Nami win the drinking Contest i was counting on the time she'll pass out, but didn't and staggered over to me. ''I woan ta mani'' Was the drunken voice of Nami. What was completely unsuspected was her sitting in my lap sideways with her left arm around my neck. ''Naw naw, yer need ta loosen ap, Eziek-Kin!''

''Yeah! The guys too tense!'' ''Everyone has to party!'' ''Relax man!'' Came the various encouragement from the people came around us, but what happened next i wouldn't have never foreseen for a long time. Nami grabbed my head and give me a deep kiss. It felt good, the wine that she has been drinking was easily distinguished in her mouth and her lips were soft. When she pulled away, the drunken navigator passed out on my lap with her head leaning on my shoulder.

''Well... it was nice while it lasted'' I sighed to myself and made her a tad bit comfortable on my lap, where i feigned sleep for the upcoming night.

[Midnight]

Opening my one eye to see the empty room with the occasional moonlight invading the messy building i still saw our navigator cutely snoring on my shoulder. Gently picking her up and setting her down to the sofas i began to strech.

''Was it something like this in your bounty hunting career? Zoro-Sempai?''

There was a small shuffling and the swordsman looked at me with a hint of amusement from the added honorific. ''No, it was less planning more action'' He got up and i threw him the swords the towns people confiscated from during his 'passed out' state. ''How did you figure out i wasn't asleep?''

''Don't be ridiculous, a swordsman letting his or her guard down. Unheard'' I chuckled. ''Sides, Mihawk-Sama did say to 'watch' that you don't do anything stupid''

He gave me an irritated look and strapped his swords on his waisband. ''So your also aware of what's going on here?''

I scoffed. ''Since when do people welcome pirates'' It was a rhetorical guestion and i continued. ''I presume you were the other guy they proposed their invitation?''

Zoro raised an eyebrow at that. ''You too?'' After a nod he grinned. ''What a small world, ne?''

I gave him my own grin. ''Let's go topside and see what kind of trouble we can get into, i even have a way to _repay_ them for their hospitality''

[Somewhere in Whiskey Peak, With Daxter and Clone#1, General POV]

''Man this is going to be the best prank ever. Had i known any better, i would say your a descendant of the Devil'' Daxter grinned at the clone who was holding a black leather bag.

''We'll see when Boss is ready, right now we have our own missions'' Their mission entailed the detecting the weirdos back in Merry and get some useful info about them. Right now they were hiding in the shadows listening to their and Igarappois plan with a tall muscular woman. ''Steroids too much?''

As the curly blond finished his short monologue, the weirdos were sitting on the rooftop. ''Well, aren't you the poet, Igarappoi or rather, Mr.8?''

''So it's you two'' The now identified Mr.8 exclaimed without turning his head to them.

''What of them?''

''They have fallen'' Mr.8 answered to his female junior in the organization. ''Into Hell, that is''

''Honestly...'' The silent voice spoke that was dressed as a huge nun. ''They were a stubborn bunch. We had to keep putting more and more alcohol in their drinks. If we hadn't, they'd still be awake causing a ruckus'' Taking the irritating nun outfit off it revealed to be . ''Beside the point, was it really necessary to put that much drama? For six measly little brats? We should have finished them off at the harbor. Even without them here, the whole town has a food shortage to worry about'' She looked at her juniors in slight disgust. ''I knew these two wouldn't be able to bring back that whale meat''

''You don't have to say it like that!'' Mr.9 tried to defende his pride. ''We tried very hard, i'll have you know!''

''Compose yourselves!'' Mr.8 reprimanded them. ''Look at this. I've been doing some checking on them'' He first held Luffys poster with the 39,000,000 beli.

''39,000,000 beli!'' The three yelled at the same time.

''Those guys?'' The crown-headed weirdo shrieked.

''It is foolish to judge a pirate's abilities by their appearance alone'' And took another poster, but this time from Ezekiel with the Sharingan active and the creepy grin decorated with blood splatters on his cheek. ''This boy is the perfect example of not underestimating any pirate, Miss mo-*Cough*-Mah-mah maaah~! Miss Monday'' The whole lot of the took a step back of the poster. ''He even managed to survive against our top assassins in less than 10 minutes''

The dark-skinned steroid addict woman scratched the back of her head. ''I-i'm ashamed'' Truth be told, she was intimitated from those inhumane eyes that demanded blood.

''But now that they've been disposed of, we can make a favorable report to the Boss. We'll take all their valuables on their boat immediately''

''And what about them? What will we do?''

''If we kill them, we lose 30% of the bounty. The goverment enjoys its public executions, after all'' There was a tense silence. ''Go! Capture them alive!''

''Oi! Forgive me the intrusion...'' A new voice came behind them from the rooftops.

''But could you let them sleep a little longer? They're tired from this afternoon's voyage...'' Another new voice continued.

''I would also appreciate if you would keep quite, some of them have guite the tender ear. If you catch my drift'' A cold chuckle finished.

''Mr.8! ! The one wearing a waistband and the other that had his girlfriend pass out on him escaped''

''They're up there'' answered cooly.

''Fiends! You should've stayed unconscious!'' The 'mayor' snarled at them.

''No true swordsman, no matter what the circumstance, allows himself to be overwhelmed by drinks'' Zoro replied with his sword unsheated and held in his hand.

Ezekiel was beside him looking at them like one would with a cornered and injured mammal that was about to be devoured. ''I just want to see blood spill around us. *Giggles* Mother has been **very** impatient and she demands your life liquids'' He tilted his head with a devilish grin that served its purpose of unnerving them. ''Mother says you are bad people, Mother doesn't like bad people, that's why Ezekiel is a good boy, Mother says good boys are good, they never make mess with their food'' He was now 'owling' from the rooftops ledge while rocking back and forth. The fear was visible and the smell of sweat in their faces was distinquishing the weak minded from the lot.

Zoro wasn't moved by those creepy words his nakama was saying, it gave him a slight sense of wariness but dismissed it as being paranoid. ''I see what's going on here, this is a nest of bounty hunters. You deceive rookie pirates just as they've made it into the Grand Line and then take them for all their worth. Looks like there's roughly 200 bounty hunters here'' The both Straw Hat pirates stood up, the other with his swords and the other slightly hunched.

''We'll take you on...**Baroque Works!**'' The last part was said at the same time giving a dangerous synched voice to it.

The crowd gasped, but it was Mr.8 that shouted. ''HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT NAME?''

''A while back when we were still in this line of work...'' Zoro began.

''...your organization sent a scout to talk with us...''

''...as you can see, we both refused...''

Adding a small giggle, Ezekiel continued. ''The members don't know nothing about each other and call each other by codenames...''

''And of course, the Boss' location and identity are a puzzle even to its members...'' Zoro scoffed at them.

''A criminal organization that carries out its barks like the dogs they are... Baroque Works''

Zoro now gave his own intiminating grin. ''Was it suppsed to be a secret?''

The area was silent and the only sound that went through there was the wind bypassing their humid sweat covered skin, making the bounty hunters shiver.

''This is surprising. Since you two know our little secret, we have no choice but to eliminate you'' The moonlight gave the two pirates an frightening glow. ''And then, we will add another gravestones to the Cactus Rocks

''So many blood wasted, Mother doesn't like blood being wasted''

It seems that was the last straw for Mr.8 and shouted in rage. ''KILL THEM!'' But it was too late as the two literally vanished from their last seen spot.

''T-they disappeared!'' The light blue-haired pointed out since their vision only saw the empty rooftop and the oval-shaped moon.

Surprised? Me too, that's a lot of hours the guys been sleeping. There will be more of those later, but they will be only few and will not be frequent.

Next time there will be more of that 'prank' of the guys, so be tuned for the next chapter to see what it is.

Over and Out! -


	12. Hell's Entertainer

**Chapter 12: Homicidal Magician, Exploding Santouryu vs. Baroque Works**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Whiskey Peak, Midnight, General POV]

''T-they disappeared!'' shouted in mixture of awe and fear. A weird combination to have as a bounty hunter. The small area of bounty hunters were in panic, never before have they witnessed something like this. Two pair of pirates are now aware of their organization with both of them being potentially dangerous.

''T-their gone!'' ''W-where the hell did they go!''

Slowly they began to use their experience of many years to calm themselves down, but it was in vain as three corpses fell from the sky.

''What the hell!'' A reasonable shout when you see your comrade fall from the sky with dislocated necks and a look of horror in their faces. ''These guys aren't humans!''

Again they tried to find the pirates, but were shocked when they saw Zoro standing there, also looking something from the rooftop. They simple gawked at the swordsmans sudden appearance. He just grinned and asked for permission to start.

''Bastard, making fun of us!'' The bounty hunters aimed their guns at Zoro and shot at him, only to shoot at themselves as the 'Pirate Hunter' vanished, leaving dozens of bullet pieced men and women.

''Did i hear fun!'' Another pirate made his appearance and looked around his previous hosts. ''Let me at 'em!'' He shouted in the air with his head arms towards the sky.

''You'll pay for that!'' And dozens more engaged him, careful not to hurt their comrades this time they used swords and daggers. Instead of vanishing like the previous pirate, this one just stood there and let the bounty hunters pierce him. ''That's what you get for messing with us!''

''And that guys worth 30 milloin beli?'' Mr.9 sneered, but his senior was frowning.

''He's not in pain...''

*Boom!*

Right on cue, 'Ezekiel' exploded. Sending more assailants burning sky high. ''Hahahahaha! Is this what you can do! Mother will be most displeased!'' The same voice came all around them making them tense once more.

Mr.8 was now furious at his comrades stupidity and at the situation they were now. ''Hurry up and kill him! It's just _two _men!'' Out of nowhere a sword emerged from both sides of his curly hair making him gasp a the cold steel graced his cheek and throat. There wasn't much words exchanged after that as the older Agent took out his saxophone and shot bullets from it at his men, that were trying to shoot his back where Zoro and Ezekiel leaned. Lucky for them, they vanished once more before the rain of bullets aimed at them ''Now where did they disappear to? Those men...''

''Phew, that thing's a shotgun? That was the last time i ever visit a consert with saxophones'' Ezekiel wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead. ''Ne? Zoro-Sempai, how about a little wager?''

''Hm? A bet you say?'' The man was intrigued, but let the other man continue.

''First to 100 wins and i'm already in the lead with 23 and you 12, though the curly hair and the blue-haired girl are out of the count''

He looked at him weirdly for a moment before shrugging ''Fine, anything else?''

Ezekiel grinned at him maniacly. ''Don't go there where people scream'' And vanished with a column of flames.

Zoro shook his head and looked at his new recruits from Logue Town. ''Time to put you guys in a small test''

[With Daxter and Clone#1]

''Yosh! Everything seems to be ready''

''Good, we only need now...'' *Whoosh!* ''...him'' Daxter pointed at the fading flames.

''You guys have the goods?'' After a quick nod the 'Boss' continued. ''I've already lured majority of them here so on my mark..''

''...get set!...'' The clone grinned

''...Go!'' Daxter jumped on the clones shoulder and they both left the area, just as the bounty hunters arrived.

''There he is!'' ''Get the freak!''

The pirate they were chasing had his back turned to him, but it wasn't like that for long when he turned around to them. In a matter of seconds the alley was drenched in absolute fear and horror. His eyes were blood red with two commas each that were slowly spinning around his eyes, his teeths were not like humans but like Arlongs with two set of them and he was grinding them together making a screetching noise.

''Operation Hell's Entertainer... **Hajime! (Begin!)**'' And ran at them like a posessed murderer with no human feelings, where he started to slash at them with his katana.

[Moments later]

The alley was by now covered in its people lying around unmoving with blood here and there. In the middle stood the 'freak' as the bounty hunters dubbed him, with an eerie expression.

''**They just kept coming and coming...**'' His voice had now a hint of metal undertone and sent shivers down the spines of those who hear it. ''**...I guess i won the bet...**'' It was true, there was enough to reach over the 100 limitas he went berserk and there wasn't enough for Zoro anymore to bet the record. He summoned a clone and gave him orders. ''**Transform into one of those and go to the burly man... you know the rest**''

The plan was simple, scare the hell out of the people. After the column of smoke vanished the creator also used the same one. He didn't look different than previously, but this one was covered in blood from head to toe.

''**I guess its time to meet our hosts**''

[With Zoro]

The swordsman was grinning to them and licked his blood from the corner of his mouth that was the result from 'Superhuman Strenght'.

''This fight's a joke. Baroque Works''

Suddenly there were bunch of painful screams all over the place added with sickening crunches that was loud enough to reach their ears.

''**!**''

What came next was another scream, but this one was something youd hear from demons or mindless beasts.

''Mr.8! Help us!'' A bounty hunter runned at the fake mayor, what shocked them was the teeth and claw marks surrounding his face and clothes. The man gripped on Mr.8's tuxedo. ''The guy... that _thing_ is not a human!''

''What are you talking about!''

''He-he-he ate them! His not fighting us, his eating us! I saw it with my own eyes!''

By now the small gathered bounty hunters face was one of disbelief, but the chuckle that came next made them unconsciously step back. It was the same metallic and also slightly demonic chuckle. ''**You people amuse me to no end do you?**'' The voice was equally if not more sinister than the chuckle. ''**Mother says that Ezekiel is a good boy and i must punish those that were bad**'' His attire consisted of a long sleeved white shirt and black pants that were rolled under his knees. He also wore a olive green scarf drenched in blood. There was blood all over his jaw and it looked like he just had a nice meal.

The remaining people from this village were terrified and if their eyes didn't lie, they wanted to hide from those demon eyes that looked at them like dinner. Atleast the fleeing man was somewhat 'wise' enough to flee without anyone noticing.

''You don't scare us!'' Looking at them, there was about 6 people charging at the homicidal pirate in rage, but ended up being electrocuted after some odd hand sings.

''**What a pathetic group of weak humans**'' Ezekiel opened his mouth exposing his jagger two row teeth, but what got them on edge was the long grotesque tounge which he used to lick his cheek clean from blood. ''**Mother is disappointed**'' And vanished in a column of flames, where he reappered beside Zoro.

Even though they were scared, that didn't stop the remaining Agents to brag about their superioty regarding the numbers they were given.

Zoro was undisturbed about his nakamas haggard breaths next to him, knowing it was all a stupid prank of his. ''There's no point bragging in the middle of a battle. The strongest will win...''

''...**and the weak ones devoured. Simple as that**''

''I got it!'' Mr.8 exclaimed suddenly around the murmurs. ''The marines must have made a mistake on the wanted posters, so the one that has the lower bounty must be the captain with the highest bounty, while the swordsman has the second one''

''I see. So that's what's going on'' Mr.9 added. ''If they're the ones worth 69,000,000 Beli it makes perfect sense

''So that's it. I knew it was strange for such a smiley-faced kid to be worth that much'' said.

''But even so, this is a disgrace! Losing to two pirates has never happened before, since the Boss entrusted this town to us, we'll be held responsible!''

After that it was silent and the cold wind started to pick up more when there was a shout of 'Igarappa' and a torrent of bullets directed at the pirates.

''We strike, Miss Wednesday!''

''Yes, Mr.9!'' The pair of Agents told each other while the mentioned Mr.9 jumped to engage Zoro. The blue-haired Agent whistled and a duck named Carue appeared beside her. ''Now, let's show him your faster-that-leopard speed!'' Her commands went to deaf ears as the duck sat down, but after a lot of shotuing they went off.

''**I gotta have one of those saxophones!**'' The metallic voice of Ezekiel now had emotions in it and grinded his teeths together. ''**Now let's see if there's more fun for little ol' me?**''

''How about someone better?'' A female voice came behind him, she tried to be brave in vain and it was seen on her face. ''That would be me! Prepare yourself! !'' Looking at her she was standing on top of the duck and pointed her finger at him. ''Come... and enjoy the sensuous fragrance of my perfume'' That said she started to shake her hips and give him a seductive dance.

Waving his one arm in a wide arc, there was the cold wind that managed to disperse the perfume that was supposed to disorientate him. _''If it isn't the Princess of Arabasta, well i could have my fun with her too''_ Showing his tounge that manage to disgust and plant fear in them he said: ''**Mother says you have a Royal blood in you, Mother is most pleased with this change of development**'' And let another ear shattering scream at them, the funny thing about them was the duck. Poor thing was so scared that it ran surprisingly fast over the rooftop with the Agent. The look of horror on her face was visible, but was dismissed.

It went like that for more than dozens more minutes when Mr.9 emerged from the rubbles and wrapped a chain around Zoro.

''Now i've disabled your arm!'' The crown-headed Agent exclaimed.

''So you've caught him''

''Do it now! Kill him, Mr.8! No more of your running away!''

''Yes, don't move. Both of you!'' The feminine voice came behind the laughing Agent. ''Make one false move, and your precious nakama here loses his life'' She was holding a knife towards the round, sleeping captain.

''Excellent plan, Miss Wednesday! Now neither of them can run away nor fight back!''

'The bastard could at least wake up when he's taken hostage'' Zoro shook his head.

''**Can Zoro-Sempai handle this situation without me interrupting?**'' There wasn't any words exchanged after that between the pirates. A small smirk was enough to let him know that there was no need to worry.

The exchange went just like in the anime, ending with a painful slash in Mr.8's torso with the help of Luffys swollen gut. ''Yosh! All done!''

''**It certainly is, but i have a feeling that this is just the start**'' The other pirate announced and sat next to Zoro. ''**Don't you think so too, Zoro-Sempai?**''

''Would you cut with that 'Sempai'-crap, it makes me feel old. And what's with that voice?''

He showed him a small device in his throat, hidden beneath his bloodstained scarf that he wore. ''**Just wanted to scare the hell out of everyone, but what do you say? How was my 'acting'? Scary right?**''

''You had me there for a few seconds with that 'Mother' stuff. Where did you get that?''

''**I read horror stories, so i might've picked something from there**'' There was a small tremor around the town. ''**Did you feel that?**''

''Feel what?'' The swordsman seemed to be in his own world at the moment, but thought of another topic. ''Oi! What about our bet?''

''**Oh that! It seems you've lost!**'' The grin that the Sharingan-user gave wasn't pretty with the teeths.

''What! How!''

''**Believe it or not, mine was 105 while yours was 89 including those agents and don't try to shit on me. I've had a clone watching you!**''

The swordsman sighed and gave a sideways glare at the other pirate. ''So what now?''

The grin never left his face. ''**The time will come and its soon**'' That said the demoniced magician stood up and looked down from the rooftop to the now other two new Agents. ''**Come see this**''

Standing up Zoro went to see what was so intresting that got the guys intrest. As he now resumed his sitting and snatched a bottle of wine out of nowhere they looked at the 'show' unveiling itself.

Apparently the organization got a whiff of a traitor amongs them and it revealed to be the blue-haired girl that the new Agents were assigned to eliminate. The curly blond man identified himself as her Royal Guardian and went as far as shooting his former higher-ups. As their banter got on, the Agents were known as Mr.5 and Miss Valentine.

''Well i'll be damned. Luffy's still down there''

''**His sleeping through all of this ruckus**'' Ezekiel shook his head in amusement when Igaram released another barrage of bullets from his hair

''You know, you could take that thing off your throat. It's slowly giving me the creeps''

''**And ruin the fun? Never**''

*Boom!*

Both pirates managed to look just in time to see Igaram fall face first in a heap of soot. After giving nods to each other they both began to drag the tubby captain away least he'll be used as a hostage again. Looking back at the small exchange they saw Mr.9 blasted off with a snot.

''Oi, oi! That's some dangerous snot!''

''**Reming me not to shake his hand anytime soon!**'' Just then Igaram grabbed Ezekiel's leg and squeezed it. ''**Hey! Old man, let go!**''

''Master Demon! Master Swordsman! Seeing the strengh of one such as yourselves, i ask of you an unreasonable request!''

''**Yo old ass tried to murder us!**'' The mistook Demon shook his leg to get rid of his grip, but the man held firm.

''The two before us have abilities of the Devil's Fruit! I am no match for them! I beseech you! Protect the Princess in my stead! Will you accept!''

''**Mother doesn't like you! Let go!**'' The threat of course went to deaf ears when the man showed his resolve by gripping harder.

''Far to the east lies the Kingdom of Arabasta! If you deliver the Princess safely there will most certainly be a handsome reward!'' Igaram was desperate and it was clear in his face. ''I beseech of you this one request! Please protect the Princess!''

After those words were said, Ezekiel stopped struggling his leg and pushed a button on his throat. ''Fine...'' He stared at him with wide eyes. ''I accept, but do know that your putting her life in the hands of pirates. Are you aware of the risk it entails?''

Igaram was seriously contemplating and he didn't have much of a choice. And being a Royal Guardian you have to use every chance you have to ensure the Royals safety.

''Did i hear a handsome reward?'' Another female voice said from the rooftops. ''I like the sound of that! How about 1,000,000,000?''

As the swordsman and the Royal Guardian gaped at the amount of money, Ezekiel shook his head. ''Your a tad bit too late Nami...'' She was confused. ''The deal is already fixed, so there's no need to milk the country that's already in the middle of a civil war''

''Y-you know?''

''Its irrelevant now'' The 'Demon' looked at Nami. ''I thought you passed out'' It was really more of a statement than anything.

''Oh, come on. A random town that throws a party when pirates come by? What kind of idiot would get smashed in a place like _this_? It was all an act''

''So the...?'' He pointed first at her then at himself, but she didn't say anything. Though she did give him a wink and a smile, where he just shook his head this time instead of the leg the man let go. ''But still, your late and i already offered my services as a babysitter''

''You can't, what about the money? Their loaded?'' Nami tried to reason with him where he just grinned, showing the sets of teeths. ''W-w-what the hell are those!''

''Just a little something i had fun sharing with our 'hosts'. A show if you will'' She looked at him with disbelief that slowly turned into one of indifference. It seems the blood didn't disturb her.

''Can't we make a small profit from this trouble?'' She tried to reason with him and smiled when the scary pirate was thinking and shrugged.

''Fine, just make it reasonable. The place is already suffering'' That said she hugged him and instantly went to Igaram and tried to make a 'decent' deal with the downed ex-Agent.

''Then... if you can guarantee her safety and deliver her unharmed. If you negotiate with the Princess directly, i am certain she will agree!''

Nami grinned at, she got him on her net. ''So you're saying we have to save her first. That's going to cost a tad bit more'' A small chuckle of amusement escaped Ezekiel.

''Even as we speak... The Princess' life is...''

''I got it'' Nami said and stood up. ''We'll save your Princess fot the time being'' Igaram was happy at the turn of events. ''Right! You two! Get moving!''

''I'M NOT GOING, IDIOT!'' Zoro shouted at her. ''Why do i have to be part of your goddamn moneymaking schemes!''

Putting a hand on his shoulder the other pirate said in a whispering voice. ''Don't provoke her or something bad is going to happen to you'' He looked at the first mate weirdly and shrugged in indifference.

''Don't be like that guys! All you have to do is go and finish off those guys. How bad can it be for you two?''

''You could get that dork of a cook do it'' Zoro seethed.

''So you're telling me that you can't beat those guys?'' Nami retaliated. The both pirates were arguing over their trivial argument and didn't notice Luffy waking up and walking.

''Hi Luffy'' Ezekiel greeted his captain.

''Hi Ezekiel, i need to take a piss'' And went off without noticing the blood covered first mate. It didn't take too long for Nami to mention that he owns her a debt, which set into another argument. Shrugging the magician crouched down to Igaram who watched the stupid banter of the pirates.

''So, your country still doesn't rain?'' Ezekiel tried to converse with the Royal Guardian.

''How much do you know about it?'' Igaram asked bewildered.

''I... have visited the place once'' And gave a small smile as to not appear he was lying. ''Its not far from here, but it does take its usual days to get there''

Suddenly Igaram grabbed the pirates hand. ''I beg of you! Don't let any harm come to her, she's our only hope!''

There was a small yet tense silence between the two, when a sigh escaped from Ezekiel. ''Alright, we'll get the brat'' Then he remembered something. ''How come your not afraid after what happened?''

''I'm a good judge of character and a kid like you couldn't be that evil''

Standing up and nodding to him, Ezekiel just caught the last words of the argument with Zoro shaking. ''I-i hope you die a horrible, horrible death...''

''That's right. I'm going straight to Hell'' Nami nodded to herself with a smirk.

''Shit! I hate you!'' And with that ran off with Ezekiel blinking at Nami.

''I have to be more careful around you, you cunning woman''

She walked up to him and tapped his cheek. ''Please don't say that, it breaks my heart for me to hear those words from you'' She even added those kicked puppy-eyes.

''Uhm... you know... i think Zoro might need a hand so i'm off'' And ran back to search the obviously lost Santouryu-user, but not before hearing a distinct familiar giggle.

''The humiliation. If i were stronger, i could've protected the Princess myself'' The ex-Agent scolded himself over his weakness.

''It's alright. Their both one of our powerhouses, so no need to worry''

And that's the end of this chapter.

Nowadays i have a lot of freetime from school for now, so i though that sppeding up a bit won't harm a soul... well it will harm yours if i don't see a review.

The next one contains some minor fight, but it'll remain to be seen.

Over and Out! -


	13. Princess on Board

**Chapter 13: Princess on Board.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Whiskey Peak Rooftops, Ezekiel's POV]

''**Stupid Nami and her stupid skill to negotiate**'' After the puppy dog eyes-scene she used to torture me, i was soaring through the rooftops to find the Princess. The whole prank was a success, but i could've been more of a success. ''**Next time, more scary things and less... well you can't have less if your me**'' I nodded to myself and noticed now that i still had the voice changing device that Daxter got for me and had it on now just for the heck of it.

*Boom!*

''**I guess she's there**'' And made a mad dash to see if our future temporary nakama isn't hurt badly. I was just in time to see Mr.5 picking his nose and aim his snot at the Princess. Using Shunshin to accelerate my speed i clapped both my hands together and held them in front of the incoming snot. ''**Fūton: Reppūshō****!** (Wind Release: Gale Palm!) Just as it's name says i released the compressed wind in my palms into a powerful gale, stopping the snot and sending it back to its owner. ''**Man, even my kid brother has better manners!**'' _''Note to self: Those things need contact with something solid''_

*Boom!*

It seems the snot hit home. _''Seriously that was gross'' _''**Oi! I was close touching it!**''

''!'' The duck riding Princess exclaimed. Turning around i manage to freak her out a bit when i smiled. ''Why do you have to be so persistent at a time like this?'' And was about to cut me with one of those jewels attached to a wire. Deciding to have fun with her second time today, i activated my Sharingans and managed to bite the thing off.

''**That's not nice, someone could've gotten hurt**'' She glared at me and i huffed, something that i was sure sounded weird and looked unnatural. ''**Relax, i'm not here to eat you or anything. The old man with the funny hair requested my assistant so here i am, saving you!**''

''S-save me?'' She stuttered and was confused.

''**Yup! You did provide me with a small entertainment, even though your still a brat**''

It seems i triggered something. ''I'm not a brat! I turned 17 this month!''

Well that was surprising, i always thought she was like what... 16? ''**Still a kid if you ask me**''

''Did i miss something?'' Our lost swordsman manage to grace his present before us.

''**Obviously, she gave me a nice dance and now she refuses my payment!**''

''I didn't ask for payment! I was about to kill you!''

*Boom!* *Boom!* *Crash!*

Looking back, the exit the Princess of Arabasta was about to use was destroyed with the snots the Agent flicked. _''We ignored them for a moment and all they do is to blow up the exit instead of us? Must be a bad guy thing''_ I thought to myself.

''Aren't you the lot that decimated the people in this town? Why are you suddenly protecting the Arabasta Princess?'' asked us.

''**We got our new jobs as Nannys and someone has to look after her**'' I shrugged, they did raise their eyebrows at my voice, but dismissed it.

''We'll whatever. In any case, you're our enemy, right? You're in our way'' Mr.5 stated the obvious.

''That's right. An obstacle'' His partner said and let our that horrendous laughter of hers, when suddenly someone screamed.

''FOUND YOUUU!'' Turning to the voice, it was the swollen captain with a experssion of fury in his eyes. Which kinda looked funny. ''ZOOROOOO! EZEKIIIIEL!''

''Luffy! If you're here to help, i don't need it or do you owe that woman money too?''

''**Uhm, i don't think that's the problem...**'' I knew that Luffy only means trouble and this time its no different.

''YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS! LET'S ROLL!''

''**Apparently you got the advantage over that**'' I said exapperated.

''What the hell are you talking about!'' Zoro wasn't on the same wave lenght as me and i just shrugged and went to the Princess, letting the other two solve situation.

''**So... nice day huh?**'' Even though i hate making small talks, i thought it would be a good start. Seeing as i scared the crap out of her and still do.

She was fidgeting and slowly edging away from me with the duck. ''It s-sure i-i-is''

''**Oh, i'm sorry. I didn't give a nice first impression, but neither did you back at the ship**'' Reaching to my jagged teeths and tore them of with a sickening crunch, i gave her a smile while pressing a button on my throat. ''The whole acting like The Devil was actually a sick prank of mine'' She looked at me with disbelieving gaze and released the Henge to remove all the blood stains i transformed upon myself. ''If you don't mind, i'd like to starting off with a clean sheet'' I gave her a smile hand outstreched my hand. ''Names, Vane. Ezekiel Vane and you must be the Princess i've heard so much. Nefertari Vivi, right?'' She slowly nodded her head and hesitantly reached for my hand and shook it.

''Nice to meet you, i guess'' She looked over at the Luffy/Zoro argument and looked aghast at the rubbermans stupidity. ''Is he a complete moron?'' She was refering to Luffy accusing us for beating the 'nice' people, because we acted like emos. Even the damn duck agreed to it.

''They're nakama? What depressing guys''

''Let's just kill them. Just like anyone that interferes with our missions'' The both Agents said.

Zoro tried to explain to Luffy once more that it was all a big scheme to claim our head, but it seemed to have no effect since he kept interrupting him.

''Uhm... Zoro'' When i got the swordsmans attention i countinued. ''About the bet... it was to keep Luffy occupied if he does something stupid like this''

''Hey! That's not fair! I didn't hear you say that!'' He was also about to continue when the captain, despite his size, managed to launch himself on Zoro instead of me. ''Are you trying to kill me?''

''Yeah! Die!'' And off they went, while i was hiding behind the duck.

''Huh! Out of the frying pan, into another frying pan'' I wiped a sweat from my brows and looked at the other two Agents, while Luffy and Zoro were crashing through buildings. ''So, whose first? Anyone would do really, its been a while since i've had to fight someone that arrogant'' I cracked my neck and fists.

They seemed to shrugg, obviously underestimating me. ''Here we go, !''

''Yes, Mr.5!'' And ran at me, but the dust that was in front of us courtesy of Luffys fist that obscured their vision where i went through another sets of hand seal for a Wind Jutsu. ''Fūton: Shinkūha! (Wind Release: Vacuum Blast!)'' And took a deep breath where i now spun my head while exhaling the compressed air from my mouth. They were first startled when cuts and slashes appeared on their clothes and exposed skin. I decided to use another one, but with a more concussive force behind it ''Fūton: Daitoppa! (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!)'' It did its work to send the two sailing back from us and i dusted my hands with a smile.

''Amazing!'' I heard Vivi say that behind me.

''That damn idiot!'' Zoro shouted and managed to kick Luffy to the same building the other Agents occupied.

*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*

There were a series of explosion from the building the three crashed and we saw high drifting high in the air towards us with the help of her umbrella. ''Now you've made me angry! You will now die by my Kilo Kilo power'' And let out that laughter of hers, where she explained about her Devil Fruit ability.

''Vane-San, Bushido-San, get out of the way!'' The Princess tried to warn us in the middle of our conversation with Zoro.

''And for the thousandth time, dinosaurs are related to birds!'' I shouted at him, but he kept arguing about it not being true since the dinosaurs have scales instead of feathers.

Luffy also managed to get out of the exploded building now in his normal size, with the nose picker beaten to a pulp. Vivi gaped at that seeing a Officer Agent in that state and the other two pirates resumed their argument, while continued her rant. Luckily she manage to shut up by the timely intervention of my clone and the ottsel with a well place axe-kick. Sending her crashing towards the ground.

''About damn time you guys got here! Where were you?'' I shouted at them, since i haven't seen them since the beginning of the 'prank'. They landed in front of me, startling Vivi and the duck seeing the two of us.

''Sorry Boss, this rat here wanted something to eat so we grabbed something nice'' Daxter scowled at him and jumped on my shoulder, but not before clawing the clones face and dispelling it.

''I swear, you have to teach yourself some behaviour. That could have a serious impact on the lady factor'' He noticed Vivi and stood on top of my head. ''Well hello there, i'm sure we haven't been introduced properly. I'm Daxter, he's Ezekiel. He's with me''

I jerked my head back to let the ottsel fall on his butt and felt that he gave a glare. I started to explain to him about the situation now, where he palmed his face/snout while we watched the two pirates fighting.

''You stupid idiot! Now I'M gonna try to kill YOU!'' Zoro threatened and wrapped the cloth over his head. ''So don't be pissed at me when you wind up dead!''

''Bring it on!''

''Hang on. What's going on?'' Vivi exlaimed and looked at me. ''Aren't you guys nakamas?''

''How do i say this...'' I tapped my chin. ''For as long as humanity has existed, men always had their own opinions. Some more than others...'' I glared at Daxter who looked away. ''...But if they have different opinion, its usually dealt with a fight''

''But why resort to violence?'' She yelled at me and i looked at her with an eyebrow raised. Deciding to let it slide now and not have a debate with a pacifist, i just shrugged my shoulders at her and looked at the fight. It was mostly just fists versus swords with a lot of force behind it. Sure their both stronger than me in physical area, but that doesn't mean i'm as slow as them. Plus i could easily see them coming with my Sharingans, but even then i have to be careful since their not fully developed.

The both fighting pirates crashed into nerby buildings with me just watching. Vivi said that we should run away, but assured her that shes in safe hands. I noticed the Officer Agent running at the fighting duo, but a quick use of Body Flicker, i reappered in front of them and clotheslined both of 'em back to the building.

''No ones going to interrupt anything while the men fight'' I hit my chest with my fist and went back to Vivi. ''Annoying bunch...'' After that the fight went as if nothing happened, with Vivi looking at me and the guys muttering something i tuned out. Luffy and Zoro fiercely looked at each other, creating a lot of Killer Intent between them. I was thinking about interfering lest the fight gets uglier, but thank god Nami manage to diffuse it.

''Stop it!''

*Bam!* *Bam!*

''I can't believe you three! What the hell do you think you're doing!'' I was confused... three? ''You're just lucky you managed to keep the girl intact!''

''What are you talking about? She's here with some scrathes, but fine nonetheless. I didn't do shit!'' But when she walked to me i received the same punishment... twice.

''And don't say that you didn't do anything. Why did you let them beat each other!''

''Because were men!'' I shouted back at her, earning another bump to the head. ''Would you stop that?''

''That was because of your sick twisted humour. I can't believe you! You didn't fight anyone, you just played with them like a child with food!'' It seems Igaram told her everything. _''The damn man''_ ''And you even ruined my business to get a lot of money!'' She walked back to Luffy and Zoro and held them by the shirt while reprimanding us.

''You people! Why did you save me?'' Vivi shouted at Nami.

Still holding the two Nami smiled. ''Oh that's right. We need to talk about that. Would you mind negotiating a contract with me?'' The previously fighting pirates were now punching and kicking each others, when Nami shutted them up with another fists to the head.

''Contract?''

[Moments Later]

''Man, Zoro and Ezekiel! Why didn't you just say so? I thought that you got mad and killed 'em all just 'cause they didn't have your favorite food!'' Luffy laughed, but i tuned it out and observed Nami 'negotiating' with Vivi, while keeping an eye on her not to rip the poor girl off.

''Are you sure you want payment for our services, Nami? The damn desert is fighting a civil war and there isn't much money going around there except the usual weapon bill''

''How do you know all of this?'' She turned to me after shutting Luffy and Zoro.

Shrugging i started to explain what i remember about the sandy island. ''I've visited the place once, but what i gathered about it is the civil unrest which caused them to rebel against the King. I also heard the place used to be peaceful with a abnormally amount of rain, despite it being a big pile of dusty rocks. But that was then'' That was pretty much what i remember aside the fact that Crocodile is the one rolling the wheels.

Nami said something that i tuned out while i tried to meditate, but was in vain as Luffy adressed Vivi. ''So, do you know who's the mastermind?''

''The B-Boss' true identity? You can't ask me that!'' Vivi paniced.

''But you know, don't you?''

I raised my hand to get their attention. ''I do'' That shut them up and Vivi looked at me in shock.

''You do!'' I gave her a nod. ''You can't! If you do, the whole organization will hunt you down''

Luffy though didn't want none of that. ''Tell me! Is he strong guy!'' He jumped from the barrel he was sitting and was now in front of my face.

''Yea, it's one of those Shichibukai... Crocodile'' I grinned absolutely unaware of the shocked Vivi and Nami, indifferent Zoro, Excited Luffy and sleeping Daxter. ''You don't get that title without being acknowled by the marines as being strong''

There was a brief moment of silence and we looked up and saw a pair of animals. A otter and a vulture. Just as they came, they went back to flying with me being shaken by the scarf by Nami.

''One of the Shichibukai is gonna be after us now!'' Luffy shouted with glee, while i could've swear i heard my neck snap. The little ottsel manage to wake up from my lap and looked at us.

''Go get a room or something. Some of us are trying to sleep here!'' Thankfully he made himself a target for Nami's outburst, letting me breath once in awhile. After a minute of shouts and curses Nami gave up and was cying.

''We just made it into the Grand Line and now i'm marked for death by one of the Shichibukai. Why me?'' I was trying to comfort her by letting her know that it isn't that bad, but Luffy and Zoros excitement made it worse and she started to walk off. She saw the animal duo sketching our faces from afar and went back to probably report about us. ''No! Now i can't even run away!'' And stormed back to us.

''I gotta say, those guys can draw perfectly'' I nodded to myself and was also praised by Luffy for the short art work of our faces. ''It ain't that bad. We've been added to their Death List. So what? Their going after, we beat 'em. Simple as that''

''Shishishi! This is so exciting!'' Luffy grinned at me and Vivi tried now to comfort the depressed navigator by saying she has some money on her savings. Daxter was by now unconsious in the hard ground so i picked him up from there, where i setted him him on my head slouching.

''Do not worry!'' A new old voice came from somewhere and we all looked and saw something that made the noise in my head demand to spill his blood. ''Fear-Mah-mah-maaah~! Fear not, for i have a plan!''

''Igaram!'' ''Old man with the funny hair!'' Vivi and Luffy shouted at the crossdressed ex-Agent. I was inching away from him and went for my tanto that was vibrating as my hand was about to touch it. He told us that he'll pose as Vivi and uses dummies to divert the attention from the hunters at him instead of us and we'll escort the Princess to her home island.

''Now wait just a minute!'' Nami shouted. ''Who said we would take the Princess anywhere?''

''Uhm... i did?'' And made a restrained smile at my crew and had my eyes diverted somewhere else. ''The old man wanted me to take her home, so i accepted the job as a babysitter'' I shrugged and got a scowl from Vivi.

''I'm not a baby!''

''Yes you are''

''Am not!''

''Are too!''

As our argument went on Luffy added something on his own. ''Oh, is that what they're on about?'' There was a short pause. ''Okay''

''Crocodile's going to try and kill us!'' Nami shouted with her fist in front of her face.

Luffy ignored her and turned to me. ''This Crocodile, is he really that strong?''

''I already did tell you he's currently one of the Shichibukai. Before he was sanctioned, his bounty was twice you have''

''80 million! That's FOUR times Arlongs!'' Nami shouted again. ''Turn him down!''

''Too late, soft lips. I'm sure our captain wants to see where he stands against other powerful pirates in his quest of becoming The Pirate King'' _''Hook, Line and Sinker!''_

The blush and defeat on her face didn't go unnoticed by me and the grin Luffy gave was enough to tell me that were going to Arabasta. ''That sounds like fun!''

''You have my utmost gratitude'' Igaram sighed in relief.

[Other side of Whiskey Peak]

We made our way to the ship Vivi tried to use to escape the place, but was instead used as a distraction for us to buy us time to get out. Though the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach said that something bad will happen soon.

''~Mah-mah-maaah~! Well then, I, Vivi, shall be leaving now''

''Ossan! You look just like her!'' Luffy pointed at the crossdressed Igaram that had the same style of dressing as Vivi.

''Now then Princess, please hand me the Eternal Pose'' Igaram asked Vivi to hand the compass, which she reluctantly did.

''Eternal Pose?'' Nami said from the rocks she was leaning next to me.

''It's like a Log Pose, but instead of reseting when recording new islands, an Eternal Pose always points to the same island, no matter how long it stays elsewhere'' I clarified her with my eyes closed, so i couldn't see their faces. Though the main reason would be Igaram being here and the weird feeling rising.

He was telling everyone goodbye and i felt his eyes piercing my skull. ''And with that, i leave the Princess in your care'' I opened my eyes and looked at him, but this time in his eyes and i saw he was serious and yet at the same time relieved.

I just waved at him to dismiss the stare. ''Chill old man, she'll be fine and sorry about my... prank'' Well i was sorry, the man and the Princess were scared shitless in the whole ordeal.

''Apology accepted'' That being said i closed my eyes.

After the Guardian and the Princess goodbyes i was looking at the retreating ship, i felt a pang in my heart and widened my eyes.

''Shit! Igaram, get out of the ship!'' _''How could i have forgotten that! The ship will explode!'' _Without thinking i went after the departed ship, skiing my way on top of the water. As i was close to the ship it was too late when it exploded in a bright light and the shockwave sent me back to the shore. It wasn't really nice skipping back to the rocky mountain with scorch marks for being near the huge explosion. _''Shit it hurts! Good thing i left the damn ottsel in shore''_

My train of though was interrupted by Luffy running over to me and offering a hand. Accepting it he pulled me up with a solemn expression after i gave him a nod, when the others walked up to the rubble stack i made.

''Are you alright!'' This time it was Nami who ran at my direction. I grabbed my temple and saw that there was blood in my hand.

''I'll live. We need to get out of here, it seems they got a whiff of us'' Despite being this injured i was angry at what happened. I could've stop it from happening, but it still happened and theres still the problem with the Princess. ''You guys go ahead, i'll get Vivi'' Running at the crying Vivi i grabbed her by the waist and plopped her on my shoulder where i made a run after my nakamas all the while Vivi being comforted by Nami.

[Going Merry, General POV]

As the whole pirate crew including the other two unconscious member were thrown unceremoniously to the deck and the duck now named Carue was found in their ship. The Straw Hats set sail and were about to leaving Whiskey Peak.

''Oi'' Zoro tried to get the Princess attention, which he got. ''Just how many hunters are we talking about?''

''I don't know. Baroque Works has about 2000 employees. And i've heard that there are other towns like this one in the area''

''Really? 2000 employees?'' Nami asked while wrapping bandages on Ezekiels head.

''It's not much, i could burn, fry or slice 'em all. Ouch!'' The wince of pain came from Nami adding too much force on his head with the bandages.

''Hey... the ship is moving?'' The unconscious duo stirred and looked around that they were on the ship... moving. ''Wait! Let's stay another night! This town was so much fun and the girls were so cute!'' Their rant continued when Nami 'explained' to them by shutting them up with couple of fist in their head and went to tend the injured one.

''Did you explain to them already?''

''Yeah, i skipped the boring parts'' Nami answered and went back to work. ''We're about to leave the island''

''Cool! Fog!'' Luffy shouted and looked around himself at the fog.

''Well, it's a good thing you got away from your pursuers'' A new voice said from somewhere around the ship.

''It sure is!'' Nami answered.

''Watch out for the shallows so that you don't strike the hull''

''You can count on me!'' She looked around again to see the voice. ''Uh, was that you, Ezek-Kun?'' Nami looked beside her and saw that the magician had his tanto nearly drawn with his Sharingan active. He was facing behind her and she turned around to see a dark-haired woman with blue ringed eyes staring at them. She was wearing the skimpy purple cow-girl outfit and sat on the rail opposite the ships gallery.

''So we meet again... and i thought i don't have to see you again'' Ezekiel snarled at her with his Sharingans spinning.

''Well if it isn't . It's been too long hasn't it, how was my little present?'' She asked the crews first mate.

''Do you know her?'' Zoro asked the other pirate that was in his own stance and Nami was looking at him with a scowl

''Yes. She tried to recruit me to this organization, but after refusing she sent a bunch of men after me to kill me. Though me still standing means one thing...'' The tension went back from him to the woman sitting at the railing.

''I was intrigued by those abilities of yours and wanted to see more of them but...'' She waved her hands and suddenly arms sprouted from his shoulders and arms that wrapped around his hands and arms. ''...but i do know that you need those hands of yours to perform them, am i right?''

''Ez!'' Daxter who woke up from the commotion looked at him from Usopps shoulder.

Robin though was disapponted when she didn't get any reply from him. ''I saw Mr.8 no too long ago, Miss Wednesday''

Realisation dawned on the ship. ''You killed Igaram!'' Vivi said with hate in her voice.

''Even if you did. Why the hell are you on my ship and let go of my nakama!'' Luffy pointed an accusing finger at her. There were also barrage of guestions going around, but Vivi made the loudest one.

''What are you doing here! Miss All-Sunday''

''Well if it isn't Crocodile's lapdog... why am i not surprised'' Ezekiel looked at her still with the Eyejutsu active.

''So she's a bad guy?'' Luffy asked him and Vivi told them that she is the only one allowed to know the Boss' true identity and shadowed her to know who the Boss was. Though that was in vain when Robin told her that she _let_ them spy on her. ''Oh, she's a good guy''

There were a lot of shouting on Vivi's part when she suddenly snapped at her and all the Straw Hats except Luffy, Daxter and the restrained Ezekiel pointed their weapons at them. It didn't take too long before the weapons with their owners being thrown around, by the same hands that were restraining Ezekiel.

''A Devil Fruit-user!'' Sanji shouted and got a clear view of her sitting. ''Ooh! A beautiful lady!''

Though she did ignore him and turned to Luffy. ''Really, don't be in such a rush. I'm not under any orders at the moment. So i have no reason to fight with you''

''Then you don't mind letting me go?''

Robin looked at the magician with amusement. ''I can't do that, since what i've heard from my intel... your extremely homicidal''

Ezekiel raised an eyebrow. Despite the situation he was calm most of the time. ''I though i didn't leave any...'' He stopped and looked at the arms restraining him. ''I see...''

She still kept that smile and leaned forward. ''I would have never thought of you joining a pirate crew, lest someone as infamous as the Straw Hat captain'' The tresured straw hat was then flung from Luffys head to Robins hand and twirled it. ''Monkey D. Luffy''

''Oi! Give back hat!'' He shouted like a child and sounded like one. ''You wanna fight!''

''What bad luck. You pirates picking up a Princess that Baroque Works wants dead. And that Princess being protected by such a small number of pirates. But your worst luck of all is the route that Log Pose is leading you on'' She explained about their next destination. ''Little Garden''

Ezekiels Sharingan-eyes were now locked with Robins. ''I'm going to say this once, did you kill Igaram?''

She was still keeping the gaze. ''So what if i did?''

The magician was still unresponsive to her guestion. ''I'm going to say this once, did you kill Igaram?'' The crew looked at him if he's lost it and even Robin looked somewhat confused.

'I don't know where your going with this''

''I'm going to say this once...'' Ezekiel said in front of her, startling the crew even more, but still held the eye contact.

''..._did_ you kill Igaram?'' A voice came behind Crocodile's second hand. She looked behind her and saw the same guy that was also in front of her, but this one had a tanto near her throat. This time Robin was surprised to see him there now. ''Surprised'' He said in his monotone voice unnerving her a little.

''How? I didn't see you use your hands?'' She was curious, but there was still that lurking feeling of fear behind her voice.

''Look closely...'' Miss All-Sunday looked at the other restrained Ezekiel who dropped on his knees with his mouth open towards the sky. What startled her was the crows escaping his mouth in flocks who soared through the sky away from the ship and behind the fog. Leaving nothing about the 'Ezekiel' that occupied the spot on the deck. ''Its a new trick of mine...''

''Cool! A new magic trick!'' Luffy now forgot his problem about his hat and looked Ezekiel behind the mystery woman with stars in his eyes.

''Though i must compliment you, that is some strong mind you have there. Any second too early and it wouldn't have worked'' Ezekiel took the straw hat from the womans head and threw it at Luffy. ''By your orders, captain'' The monotone voice still there.

Robin made a slight move with her hand, but the sharp tanto in her neck got closer. Stopping her movement. ''There's a Eternal Pose beside me that would help you avoid the next island. The needle points to Nanimonai (Nothing) Island just short of Arabasta. Since none of our members know this route, you will not be followed'' Despite the tables now turned, she still had the smug smile on her face.

''What? She's helping us out?'' Nami asked.

''Why are you doing this'' Vivi shouted at her.

Zoro decided to add his own cents. ''It's obviously a trap''

Taking the Eternal Pose from the rail and throwing it at the captain, Ezekiel nodded at him. Luffy gave his own nod and smashed the Eternal Pose in pieces with his hand. ''Who the hell gives a crap!'' His short lived 'coolness' was broken by Nami kicking him in the face.

''Are you a complete dimwit! She just told us the best way to go! What if she was trying to help us? What then?''

Luffy ignored Nami's rant and looked at the hostaged Robin. ''You don't decide the route for this ship!'' There was a long silence between them, but elder woman sighed and shrugged.

''Oh, how unfortunate'' She looked at Ezekiel. ''Do you mind if i take my leave?''

Ezekiel looked at his captain. ''Luffy, can i please chop her head off? I promise, no mess just clean cut.. here'' He pressed the tanto slowly to her neck, nearly drawing blood. No one seemed to notice that he pushed something from his throat. ''**Mother still demands more blood!**'' And showed the long tounge that gave him a creepy demeanor with the metallic/demonic voice while licking the sets of teeths

''T-The H-H-Hell I-Is that!'' Ussop shrieked in horror and Sanji wasn't that far behind.

''Oi! Shitty magician! That's not how you treat a lady!''

''It's alright, Ezekiel. Just let her go'' Luffy just waved his hand and the magician reluctantly sheated the tanto back to his lower back. Robin slowly walked away still looking at the magicians red Sharingan-eyes.

''If you survive. Let's meet again''

''**If we **_**do**_** meet again, it will be your corpse**'' And licked his teeths again with the grotesque long tounge. That said, she jumped from the ship next to a giant turtle and sailed off. The crew looked amazed at the turtle sailing off.

''That woman!'' Vivi dropped on her knees since the adrenaline left her body. ''I can't understand what she's thinking!''

''**Then stop thinking about it. The whole thing is just waste of time, since we already have people like that on this ship**'' Ezekiel pointed his long tounge at his crew and went back to grind him teeths together.

''Can you stop doing that!'' Sanji shouted at the prankster magician.

''**Fiine...**'' First he turned off the voice changing device, ripped the teeths off and yanked the tounge out. Looking at them, he shrugged and threw them over board. ''I'd say i outdid myself today... don't you think so Dax?'' No response. ''Dax?''

''He's here, sleeping so no worries'' Usopp reassured him.

Looking at the little ottsel sleeping made Ezekiel smile. He took the ottsel and wrapped him around the scarf where he walked up the mast and sat in the yardarm looking at the fog surrounding them.

''How does he do those?'' Vivi asked the silently sitting Ezekiel. ''There were two of him when the other erupted in crows and the walking on water thing'' Thankfully Luffy was more than eager to explain to her, with the help of the crew of course.

Thank goodness its done... so i can get back to playing Modern Warfare 3!

I'd like to thank Bluejay23 for giving me a small outside view of my story, so there might be more addings and paddings on the coming chapters. And it looks like Nami might get herself a rival just when the main character is going a bit emo here.

...just kidding... or am i?

Over and Out... well not Out but inside to play MW3. -


	14. Midnight Illusions

**Chapter 14: Midnight Illusions.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Open Sea, Going Merry, General POV]

''I see'' Sanji began with his cigarette in him mouth. ''I've done something worth praising, but i still have yet to show my true abilities. It's all right now, your sleeping knight has awakened and i will make it my duty to ensure your safety'' He assured the sailing Princess.

''Damn...!'' Usopp sighed. ''I'm glad i was asleep!'' The liar shouted when Daxter told him what happened in Whiskey Peak.

''Nami-San, are you jealous?'' Sanji grinned at her.

''Not in the least. I already have my own bodyguard'' Nami said nonchalantly and stood beside Ezekiel who was sitting crosslegged with the others, furiously glaring at the scroll with the weird scribbles. ''Uhm... what are you doing Ezek-Kun?''

Snapping out of his stare off with the paper he looked at Nami with his Sharingas seemingly active. ''I'm trying to recreate the Illusion i just made few minutes ago at the weird lady'' That seemed to get the crews attention on him. ''But for the life of it! It doesn't work!'' And pouted at her, making her giggle at his antics.

''I'm sure you'll get it done'' She reassured him, which made him give his own grin. ''But whats with the paper there?''

He looked down on it and gave another pout. ''Its supposed to tell me if theres any Chakra leaking from my eyes. So far its a bust''

Sanji walked up to him and looked at the weird scribbles on the scroll. ''Looks like some rolled paper and ink to me''

Ezekiel scowled at him. ''That stuff there could one day save your lives, so a little respect here or do you want to be my guinea pig?''

It was either he underestimates him or wants to act tough around the girls. ''Sure, how bad can it be?'' Shrugging Ezekiel stood up and stared into his eye with the Sharingan. The deck was silent when they observed the staring duo, one was indifferent while the other was straining to consertrate on something.

''Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion: Death Mirage Jutsu)'' Was the whisper that came from the magicians mouth.

Suddenly there was leafs circling around them, but was only seen by Sanji who looked around in confusion. ''What the h...'' He was about to continue when his heart pounded in fear. His whole nakamas were sprawled around the deck, bloodied and beaten. The cook was hyperventilating when a loud 'Smack!' was heard and the world turned normal, with him lying on the deck. Looking around he saw the worried expression of his healthy nakamas and Ezekiel with his arm outstreched.

''Any second and you would've lost it, Ero-Cook'' Was the blunt reply.

Apparently Sanji didn't take that lightly. ''You! What the hell was that!'' And grabbed Ezekiel by the collar.

''Oi! Get your hands off me! You asked for it didn't you'' Ezekiel was breathing slightly hard and his eyeslids were twitching.

''What did you do, Vane-San?'' Vivi asked him, but was answered by Sanji.

''I'll tell you what he did. The second he said something about demons, illusion and deaths i started to see leaves surrounding us and the next thing i knew you guys were all dead!'' The deck was silent and the focus was back on Ezekiel who supported himself from the railing.

''It was an Illusion, a fucking Genjutsu and a damn weak one! It wasn't even real yet you fell on it!'' After composing himself and de-activating the Sharingans he continued. ''The purpose of is to reveal the fear that dwells in your heart and that was what you just saw'' Rubbing his eyes he sat on the rail and looked at Vivi. ''You have something on your heart, care to share that with us?''

She looked towards the deck in sadness. ''I wonder, is it really alright for me to be aboard your ship? I don't want to be a burden'' Vivi solemnly said to the crew.

''What are you talking about? Thanks to you and him...'' She pointed at Ezekiel rubbing his eyes. ''We're all marked for death. If you didn't want to be a burden, you two shouldn't stick your noses on other peoples businesses'' And began poking Vivis forehead.

''I'm sorry'' Came the weak reply.

Turning to Luffy she adressed him. ''Right, Luffy?'' But went to deaf ears as the captain and the first mate shouted that they want food.

''I don't think he cares...'' Vivi said with a sweatdrop.

''In any case, we know our next stop. Little Garden, eh?'' Sanji announced.

''Should we really go there?''

''Don't be such a wuss... Little Garden, sounds like a place for little girls with tea party'' Scoffed Daxter as he was fixing something on the deck.

''Who cares? Let's go, crew!'' The captain shouted in the air.

[Few Hours Later, Ezekiel's POV]

I just finished my small spar with Zoro, but this time without the help of the clones. The guys improved and i learned some cool tricks with the tanto i bought from Logue Town. Though Zoro was in advantage with the longer katana versus the shorter sword, though i was still trying to figure out the battlelust from the tanto. Shrugging, i went to the gallery to see my inventory of weapons i still have with me.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

''Shut up! Can't you guys be a little quieter!'' Nami shouted at the guys outside the gallery where Usopp was kicking. ''Sheesh! Sorry about that. You were saying?'' Looking over her shoulder i saw she and Vivi were drawing a map or sort. Squinting my eyes to see if i can decipher anything about it.

''Basically, i was saying that even though there are no islands in the area, some coral reefs are quite large, so there is still a danger of striking the hull'' Vivi explained something to Nami. I shrugged and walked up to Sanji, i decided to first apologize about the earlier.

''Hey'' He turned to me lazily from the dinner he was preparing. ''Sorry what happened back then. I still can't control it perfectly and it cost me dearly, so no hard feelings? I promise next time to use it against ememies'' And offered my hand as a sign of apology.

He looked at me as if i lost my mind, but let go and shook my hand. ''Just restrain yourself a bit. I've heard you went ballistic in Whiskey Peak'' I scratched the back of my head and laughed nervously. Looking at the food he was preparing and the nice smell of those cakes made for the girls i rolled my eyes. ''What?'' Sanji seemed to notice the expression.

''No cakes for us?''

''These are for the ladies''

I raised my eyebrow at that and shrugged. First i thought about using the Henge, but it would render the apology we just made useless. Walking to my huge scroll of my necessities i took a used sketch book, pencils and a used book. Sitting opposite of the girls who just received their dessert i started writing about our late adventures and sometimes draw scenes about it. Of course someone has to do these to preserve some memories, so i took it as my responsibility.

''What are you doing Vane-San?'' Vivi asked me after some minutes of silence, except Usopps and Daxters muching from another plate Sanji made. At first i didn't register that my lastname was said, because people tend to use my firstname. Though i did acknowledge her and started to blink.

''Oh, me?'' She gave a nod, which i returned it with a smile. ''Just call me Ezekiel and what i'm doing is a log about our journey from where i joined the crew and forward. If you want, you can read it in a moment. I'll just add something new to it'' And gave me another nod.

''Since when did you start doing those?'' This time it was Nami who asked me, also enjoying the small cake.

I looked down back to the scketch i was drawing about the island welcoming us and gave a sad smile. ''You tend to get lonely at nights, so i occupy myself with these'' I could feel that they were going to ask me more, when there was a huge 'Crash' from the deck. Scurrying over there we saw it was Luffy who broke the pedal from the water-drawing machine that was going to pump water for the shower Nami was going to use.

''Damn, that scared me. This thing's dangerous!'' We heard the rubberman exclaim.

''What is? What happened?'' Nami asked.

''Ahh! Luffy!'' Usopp shouted and pointed at the broken pedal. ''How did you break that!''

''I was just trying to get the water to go faster'' It seems that the captain went too fast with the machine that it burned the belt from it. Though he did earn a punch from Nami in the back of his head from the wreck he caused.

''It's because of your stupid strenght. Honestly...''

''You do know you could've asked me to just pop a clone to do that?'' She stopped what she was doing and looked away in embarrasement i guessed.

''Can it not be fixed?''

''Yeah, we have to stop and get some spare parts'' Usopp answered Vivi.

''Either way, i won't be asking this guy any more favors'' She side glared at the oblivious Luffy and turned to me. ''Ezek-Kun, can you help Usopp here get the other water-drawing machine and get me some water?'' I gave her a lazy glance from the rail and shrugged. Summoning a clone, i told it to help the sharpshooter and to get the water ready for Nami. After that i went back to my usual writing and drawing, while tuning down Luffys and Usopps bickering.

There seemed to be some kind of newspaper bird in the yardarm, which Nami gave it money to receive a newspaper.

''Why does the morning newspaper always come during afternoon break?'' Nami said while reading the paper.

''It can't be helped. We're sailing the Grand Line, remember? We should be thankful to get any information at all''

''You're right about that'' I looked up from my writing and saw Nami looking at the paper wide-eyed.

''Is there something intresting in there?'' I asked our navigator, who shook her head rapidly. Thinking it wasn't anything important and probably has to do with the weather i let it go. After that it was Luffy spotting Cody the Coward marine in the newspaper. ''Finished!'' I stood up and streched. ''It is done'' Offering my written book to Vivi i said. ''If you want to know more about our past adventures, its all written there. Though from the point i was sleeping i used Daxter as a narrator about the happening with the giant whale.

''Thank you'' She gave me one of those sweet smiles which i returned it. ''Can i ask you a guestion?'' I looked at her with a raised brow and went back to sit down, while giving her a nod. ''Are you also a Devil Fruit-user like Luffy?''

_''I knew she was going to ask that sooner or later''_ The time went as we talked about my Chakra-abilities and the like. There were also more guestions from the crew like the Karasu Bunshin (Crow Clone). It was actually Itachi's Jutsu, where i thought it was the coolest thing ever and tried to recreate it. I didn't even know that it was already night where everyone slowly went to sleep. Deciding to clean the ship once in a while, but this time without the help of the clones to pass the time.

Sighing i took out the mop and the bucket in the deck and started to clean. This time i wanted to sing instead of hum and yes, it will be another Sinatra. _''__Strangers in The Night, sounds good this time''_

It took me about 2 hours to clean the ship, but it could've taken less if i hadn't slowed down a notch or two. Looking up i saw the moon illuminating our ship, it felt nice so i went to my usual spot in the yardarm and just stared at it. Hearing small footsteps i looked down and chuckled, it was Nami again in the middle of the night.

Staring back at the moon, it didn't take too long for Nami to climb her way to the yardarm. Sitting next to me she gave me a smile and also looked at the moon. ''I see you've cleaned the place''

''Yeah... i'm kinda bored here, thought i'd make some chores around here'' I was silent for a moment before looking at her. ''So, what are you doing here this late? I guessed you all were asleep... again?''

She looked down and i felt i screwed something up, but as soon as it came she looked back at me with a sincere smile. ''You must be lonely, so i wanted to keep you company''

Well now i'm surprised, she cut down her sleep just for me? _''She also acts differently without the others being around''_ I thought to myself. ''Are you sure? You'll be tired the next day and we need you to be fully awake to navigate through Grand Line'' It seems i made a point there, so i continued. ''Look thats sweet and all, which i appreciate of course'' i was waving my hands in front of me as ease her.

She was saddened what i said. ''I guess your right'' I was about to say something comforting. ''But that doesn't mean i'll stop giving you company now and then'' Inwardly sighing seeing that i didn't do something to upset the girl i smiled and gave her a glare.

''Not if i have something to say about it''

Apparently, she took our little argument as a challenge. ''And what is it that your going to do? I'm scared'' She rolled her eyes and the voice was filled with sarcasm and playfulness. I kept my glare fixed at her, but it was in vain since i couldn't keep it up too long and grinned a mischievous grin. ''Could you stop that? I know you have something in mind and i don't want to be part of it'' That though went to deaf ears as i grabbed her under the legs and held he once again in bridal style. ''Ezek-Kun'' She said with a slow yet dangerous voice. ''You have three seconds to set me back or else''

Now she began to count, but wasn't fast enough to start it when i already jumped from the yardarm with a small yelp that came from Nami. As we landed on the deck, she surprisingly didn't squirm and just looked at me with an unreadable expression. ''Uhm... sorry?'' I was beginning to worry if i broke her, i don't know how women work.

Imagine my surprise when she grinned one of those stupid grins Luffy throws here and there. ''Again! That was fun!''

''What the..? Are you okay?'' I was beginning to worry about that, she's usually not this enthusiatic about those things.

''I said again'' And gave me a glare when i wasn't responsive, but nonetheless fulfilled her request. I had fun jumping down and walking up the mast with Nami holding onto my neck. She smelled a lot like tangerine than anything and i though it was sweet. I was broken form my thoughts by something wet on my cheek and saw it was Nami giving me a kiss. ''You can let go of me now, Ezek-Kun''

Complying her wish, i set her down and looked away with my face heated. I heard her giggle and she tapped my cheek where she kissed me where she corrected my gaze back to her. ''Thanks... i meant the company'' I quickly changed it lest i'll sound ungrateful from her effort of staying up. Looking at her i saw her pout at me.

''I thought youd thank me from the kiss'' I saw her blush at her statement.

''Yes... no, umh.. i meant yes, but..'' I was cut off by her giggling at my slight stutter and walked closer to me, where she fixed my scarf.

''Your easier to fool than i thought, guess i could have my fun with you after all'' There was a moment of silence where she still averted her eyes from me and continued fixing my scarf on my neck. ''I'll go to sleep now, but i want you to atleast try to get some sleep, okay?'' I gave her a nod and saw she had something more to say. ''And... i had fun tonight.. thank you''

''No... it was me whose supposed to thank you''

''And i already said it'' She fixed me with a glare that she has made her point.

I sighed at her, but kept my smile. ''Has anyone told you that your too stubborn for your own good?'' I inquired her and was answered by a fit of giggle followed closely by a cute yawn. Grabbing her by the shoulder and turning her around, i escorted her back to her cabin. ''Its time for you to get that beauty sleep of yours''

She turned back towards me and smiled with a blush. Taking a small yet fast steps on her part, she gave me a peck on the same cheek and vanished behind the door of her cabin. I could tell she was leaning against the door and i just chuckled. ''Good night'' I don't know if it was my imagination, but i could've swear that she said something about 'Handsome idiots with insomnias'. Smiling i went to Luffys spot, all the while grinning and thinking about the moment i shared with the Straw Hat navigator.

It seems someone knows Genjutsus, albeit weak ones since the Sharingan isn't fully developed, but it will grow stronger against stronger enemies. Hope you like that mushy scene i made... let me know how the fics going, since i had dozens of good reviews.

I don't know how people take it about the pairings, but this is something i'm comfortable with. The ottsels job is more like a friend/explanator about the Jutsus to others and stuff, but he will also make a debut somewhere along the story. I also bet some of my readers are surprised about two chapters released at the same time, though those will come rarely. I guess.

But now its back to MW3, so if there's going to be lateness about the fic, blame it to my PS3.

Over and Out!


	15. Rumble in the Jungle – Part 1

**Chapter 15: Rumble in the Jungle – Part 1.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Going Merry, Ezekiel's POV]

I had fun last night, that's for sure. Which of course meant me being unusually nice today. I was conversing with Vivi about the log i wrote the other day and gave her more details about the scenes we've been through. She is really a nice girl aside from the fact that she was about to kill us back at the bounty hunter infested island.

''...and the old dragon chewed on Usopp, thinking it was his meal or something'' I laughed at the memory back at the Gunkan Island. Luckily i had dozens of those pictures of the dragons i draw while they were flying around us.

''I can't believe those exist, i thought they were all myths'' Vivi looked the drawings. ''And it was you who draw all these? Their amazing!''

I grinned at that, i liked being praised once in a while from my art works. ''Thanks'' Though i don't know what to add more to my words except the usual 'Thanks'.

Luffy asked Vivi when will it snow again, which she replied that beginning part of the Grand Line is always hectic and that we must stay on guard. I tuned the rest as i looked around for our navigator and i was a bit worried for her part that she had to stay awake in the middle of the night, just to keep me a bit of company. Though i knew she'll be alright and my worries were diminished by Sanji shouting something about the Special Drinks he made. Jumping over the railing, me, Luffy and Zoro sat with the other guys and two animals in the deck enjoying our green beverage.

''Hey Usopp, make some fishing gear for us!'' Luffy exclaimed.

The sharpshooter looked at him from the drink he was enjoying. ''Fishing gear? Great idea!'' And went to brag about making some artistic lures that will swoon the fishies.

But that musing was cut off when we looked Carue drinking drinks after another in rapid speeds and Luffy looking at the creature in awe. ''Cool! Chug it, Carue!''

Vivi though, couldn't understand how we could act so calm in the middle of the dangerous sea, where she started to 'somehow' shout at us. Luckily Nami managed to ease her worries a bit with drink she offered her. I looked up and saw her also drinking the same beverage that we tried to cheer/force Carue to drink. Deciding to let the guys have their fun with the slightly suffering duck i went over to her.

''Morning! How was your sleep?'' I greeted her with a smile while waving at her, also briefly hearing that she was still trying to diffuse the worry of the Princess. She turned to me and gave a big smile.

''Its the usual, you know...'' Then she remembered something. ''Oh sorry, i didn't mean...'' Hearing that i just waved it off.

''Its nothing, really'' I gave my own smile. ''No need to worry about the small slip up''

I manage to see the duck pass out just in time and just laughed at the unfortunate creature, when Vivi asked me a guestion. ''What was that just between the two of you?''

''Come again?''

Vivi tried to find proper words to ask her guestion. ''You asked how was her sleep and after Nami said fine she started to apologize... i don't get it'' I was kinda confused at the guestion.

''Uhm... insomnia. I haven't slept since the day you woke me up'' I replied bluntly.

''Isn't that dangerous? You should see a doctor!'' She was frantic, which startled me a bit.

''I've visited few, but i always got the same reply. 'Use those pills, yadda yadda and you'll be fixed'. And it happened nearly everytime, from day one to the day where they took pictures of my brain. I of course tuned it all down, since it was boring'' I shrugged, which was true... i can't remember what's wrong with me. ''Either way, its not something to bother with'' I sat on the railing next to Nami and looked at the guys plainly laughing at the duck.

''Hey guys, look! It's a dolphin!'' Sanji exclaimed and we saw the dolphin swimming in the ocean.

''It's cute!'' Nami shouted in glee, when the dolphin jumped over us and shadowed the whole Merry from the open sun.

''That's a huge ass dolphin!'' Daxter shouted and covered in Usopps bag.

Our captain managed to give us a simple order. ''Run away!'' And we all went to do our assigned tasks of getting the hell out. It was done in a blink of an eye and there wasn't any need to use clones thank goodness. ''Full sail!'' Looking back the damn thing was still following us. ''Alright! We'll catch the wave and ride it out of here!'' As on cue the dolphin plunged back to the ocean, creating a huge tidal wave behind us that gave us a huge boost forward. ''Nami! How's our course?''

''Just a sec, i'll check'' Nami gave her affirmative and looked at the Log Pose. ''Turn us hard to port!''

''Aye-Aye!'' We all shouted and began heading the leaded way. After dozens of minutes later, we saw an jungle like island in front of us. ''No doubt about it. We're directly line up with Cactus Island (Whiskey Peak). Our next destination is that island!''

''So this is it!'' Luffy gaped. ''The second island of the Grand Line!''

_''I have a bad feeling about that place''_

[Little Garden]

As we neared the jungle island, we were surrounded by wildlife everywhere with the giant trees and vines.

''So this is Little Garden'' I heard Luffy say while looking around the jungle.

''What the hell do they mean 'little'?'' Zoro mused out loud.

''It doesn't look nearly as cute as its name''

''No kidding, the whole place gives me bad vibes'' The talking animal of the crew exclaimed from my shoulder and once again vanished back in Usopps bag.

''This is like, unexplored territory! An untamed jungle'' Daxters equally coward friend trembled, when Vivi told us to be careful and that she's worried what Miss All-Sunday or Robin said.

''Forget about the woman said could you. She has a reputation of lying and deceiving people so no need to let her mind fuck everyone'' That of course earned a fist to the head from the foul language by Nami. The rest continued Usopp ranting about monsters and Sanji saying that the jungle provides enough food to stock up.

''Theres a river mountain up ahead'' I heard Zoro point out, which we made our way to it.

''I hope there's a yakiniku restaraunt here~!'' Luffy started to sing.

''If you see one, let me know'' I reminded him incase he accidentaly finds one.

''What the hell would one be doing here?'' And Usopp went into a argument with the ships captain about something untrivial. Nami was by now pointing the overgrown plants for us when a loud bird-like scream erupted from the jungle. Our navigator made a small cry and buried her head in my chest. And yes, she did caught me off guard and i did what i thought someone would do in those kind of situation. I patted her back reassuringly and looked around, where i saw Sanji scowling at me. Deciding not to pay any heed to it i looked at Nami.

''Its just a bird... i guess. But theres no need to be worried about that'' She slowly looked around to confirm it and looked me in the face. ''You're surrounded by friends'' And gave her a smile. Though that didn't help her seeing that there _was_ actually a huge ass bird flapping its way to Sanji. Summoning a Fuuma Shuriken from my wrist, i threw the thing at the birds head where it fell to the waters. In a matter what felt like seconds the bird was eaten by piranhas and there was nothing more left of the bird except its skeleton.

''What the hell was that!'' Sanji shouted at me.

''The hell do i know!'' I was about to take a step forward when there was still Namis hand gripping on my scarf while she looked at the skeletal bird. Shrugging i talked Luffy about how the bird would've tasted like.

*BOOM!*

After the huge sound, our navigator resumed her task of burying her head on my chest. ''Is that the kind of sound you hear in a NORMAL jungle!''

''That sounded like a volcano erupting!'' Usopp paniced and i briefly saw that the ottsel ran back to the gallery, probably to hide himself.

''Uhm... guys, we have company'' I bluntly said and pointed at yet another huge ass creature, this time a damn tiger.

''A tiger!'' ''It's freakin' huge!'' Nami and Usopp managed to say respectively, where the latter ran to the other side of the railing while Nami was now using me as a meat shield. Probably to throw me at the tiger, if it decides to attack us. Currently the tiger was stalking us next to our ship and looked at us hungrily.

We were surprised when the tiger spewed out blood and collapsed with a nasty scar on its side.

Nami now looked fearfully at the tiger over my shoulder. ''What? What happened to it? This is not normal. This is definetely not normal!'' She was still gripping on my scarf, much to the confusion of the crew. ''How can a tiger, the King of the Jungle, collapse in its own blood?'' She yelled while i saw from the corner of my eye that Usopp was nodding and sweating.

Holding his finger high the sharpshooter announced. ''Well then, it's decided we are NOT stopping at this island!''

''We'll just sit on the ship and quietly wait for the Log to set. Then we get out of here as fast as possible. We do have to hurry to Arabasta, right?'' Nami said all the while getting small shouts of 'Yes' from Usopp.

[Minutes Later]

Stopping somewhere in the river, Zoro threw the anchor down and we stopped next to the jungle, while listening Luffys schoolgirl giggle. ''Sanji, lunchbox!'' The resident cook was confused at the behavior of the captain as was i. ''I have to recharge my power! A TON of meat and NO vegetables! A PIRATE Lunchbox! I smell adventure!''

Nami began to reprimand Luffy about the idea, but the rubberboy was too excited to pass on a opportunity like that.

''Its useless Nami, the guys way too excited'' I chuckled at her antics, its not something she does everyday. After Sanji went to the gallery to fix something for our Indiana Jones, Vivi asked if she could also go with him. ''I guess its true after all. Luffys excitement is contagious''

''Don't tell me you're going along with this!'' Nami shouted at her.

''Well, if i sit around here, i'll only get depressed. I might as well relax while we wait for the Log to set'' Vivi explained, but Nami still tried to install some sense onto her. It didn't take too long for Sanji to fix the lunchbox and a special drink for Carue. With a quick words from them, they ran into the jungle. Looking more around i didn't see the damn orange squirrel anywhere, it must've gone to sleep. _''Lucky bastard''_

''Well, i've got some time to kill. I'm gonna take a walk'' Our swordsman said and jumped from the rail. Sanji though manage to get the Three swords-users attention. After that it went all to hell when the two took a bet against each other, for who can hunt the biggest animal.

''That's them alright. I think i could also go on a little adventure'' I was about to take few steps forward when suddenly i felt heavy. ''What?'' Looking down i saw the frightened duo clinging to my legs with streams of tears running down their cheeks completed frightened expressions.

''Please don't leave us...'' Nami begged followed closely by Usopp.

''Well die here without someone protecting us!''

I was thinking about it, on the other hand... theres a lot of those creatures i'd like to maim to death and the other... what was the other option?

''I promise to repay you back!'' Nami cried this time.

''Consider it done!'' Of course its not like i'm going to take advantage of her, i'm not like Sanji. Sitting down against the railing i was flanked by Usopp a little ways ahead and Nami clinging to my left arm. It would've looked cute in a date or something, but the girl was scared so i refrained teasing her to death.

''Wait a minute!'' Nami suddenly shouted. She let go of my arm and ran to her cabin with Usopp in tow. Letting them do what they though would be considered as 'killing time' i slided it off and leaned against the rail with closed eyes.

It didn't take too long when i heard two familiar screams from the other residents of the ship that frantically waved at me. I stood up and sat down on the railing to get a better view of them. Needless to say, they were scared about something, but were completely silent about it until they screamed and burst into more tears.

''The hells wrong with you guys?'' I scrathed my head, when there was a burst of wind behind me. Looking back at the commotion behind me lazily i saw a giant staring at us. ''Yo'' I waved at the huge warrior with the huge notsrils, half-circled beard and warriors outfit.

''Well?'' The giant asked.

I was confused. ''Pardon me?''

He came closer to our ship to probably let us hear him correctly. ''I asked if you had any ale!''

''Uhm... yeah sure. There should be some at the storage room'' Did he ask us that? With that booming voice i was sure i would've heard him.

''Thank goodness you have some. Its been awhile since i last time had something intoxicating!''

Nodding i continued. ''We sometimes use it for cooking and celebration, so i'm sure there's enough to sate your thirst'' I don't get it, how can people be afraid of this gentle giant.

''AAAAAAAHHH!'' The giant screamed in obvious pain, but was mistook as a shout of anger by the two scaredy cats. Looking behing the giant i saw a dinosaur biting his butt, which made me chuckle at the sight. That is until the giant cleaved the things head off elicting a scream from Nami and Usopp... again.

Me, being me for once in awhile was awed by the power of the giant man. ''I, and i alone, am Elbaf's Mightiest Warrior! Brogy!'' The now named Brogy announced and held the dinos head high, where he went into a fit of laughters joined by me.

''With that kind of force, damn right!'' I was now standing on the rail looking at the giant with new found respect. Since i was a kid, i was always fascinated by something destroying something with a crap load of force.

Brogy held the dinos head in front of our ship. ''Now i've got some meat. Join me, as my guests''

''Sure'' I managed to say, before i heard two thuds on the deck. Without looking i sighed and apologized the giant about their behaviours.

''Its nothing, that usually happens with me around'' I scowled at that, since that line was something i used a lot back home.

''Though don't worry about those two, their just... being the way they usually behave i think'' Grinning at the duo while i saw them glaring at me i chuckled and went to grab the ale Brogy requested.

It didn't take us long to arrive at his place, with my two 'unconscious' nakamas in Brogy's palm. I loved the ride that high and the giant was kind enough to fix us the dino meat.

''Whoa! That looks delicious!'' My mouth was watering since its been awhile since i last ate a good amount of meat. I even learned myself that giants also liked to be praised by their skills, be it in a fight or otherwise.

Brogy jerked his head back to the lying two pirates. ''Are you sure your fellow humans are fine? They been sleeping a lot now''

''Knowing them, their just scared about you eating us'' The giant started to laugh and say that we would make more a proper converstation partners that food

We continued waiting for the meat to grill and started to sing a song about 'Tasty Dinosaur Meat'. It was catchy, but it ended when i noticed the navigator and the sharpshooter missing. ''Goddammit''

The giant also seemed to notice them missing and offered his assistant, which i kindly accepted and went to look for the two missing pirates. It didn't take us too long to find them behind a sabre tooth tiger that were being chased by a dinosaur. Brogy managed to scare the creatures off leaving the two humans crying.

''Listen you two!'' I shouted at them. ''The giant is a cool guy and you just start criticizing him just because what? He's huge!'' I was pissed at them, since no one should be looked differently by the first glance. ''There won't be any prejudice when i'm around, got it!'' Turning around, i sat back in my spot on Brogy's palm. ''Either you come now, or be killed where you stand'' They seemed to back away from my outburst, but thankfully complied and made their way to the giant.

The small trip back was spent in silence, where Brogy placed a big lump of meat which i started to devour in silence

''We... we though he would eat us'' Usopp tried to say something to start a converstation, while Nami was unusually quiet.

''Well he won't eat us and be a proper guest here. You're embarassing me'' I replied without looking at their direction.

''Your friends are strange!'' Brogy adressed me and i looked at him with the meat processing in my mouth. After i swallowed it down i answered his guestion.

''They'll have their moments'' Then i remembered something. ''Say, are you from a village called Elbaf somewhere in Grand Line. I remember there being other giants like you''

He looked at me closely and gave a haugty loud laugh saying i was absolutely right. The giant was more than eager to talk about his home village, like the laws they made. First he told us was the law that to settle a fight, the opponents must leave the village and accept the judgment of their God named Elbaf. The God is said to grant divine protection unto the rightful victor and that being the right to live after the battle. He said that he started a feud, where he and another giant used the island as a battle ground.

''But it's been 100 years and we still haven't settled it! Yababababa!''

''I guess its not a big news, since giant were said to live 3 time longer than humans'' There was another lightbulb over my head and asked the giant my next guestion. ''Brogy, how long does it take for the Log Pose to set here?''

''About a year'' The giant replied nonchantly.

"A year?" We all replied in synch.

Suddenly there was a loud explosion coming from the islands volcano's mouth. Standing up, Brogy stated suddenly that he has to leave and that the volcano signals their 100-year long battle to start. Looking at Brogy i saw his eyes had those distant looks in them. Thowing his car sized dinosaur meat into the fire and getting his weapons ready, our giant walked of to meet the other giant.

Well he didn't just walk, but made a mad dash at the other giant and clashed their weapons at each other. The huge ripple of force washed through us in a huge wave. It was an epic battle that i just had to draw them fighting, but had the same pang in my heart when i was about to save Igaram and this time i listened to my instincs. _''Okay, think. There was something major happening after the battle...'' _I coundn't remember properly, so i looked around us to see if i could see something that would trigger my memory. _''Let's see, we have Nami and Usopp here, dinosaur meat and ale''_

*Boom!*

Looking at the huge explosion the giants made helped me to remember. _''That's right! Those ales will explode on the giants stomach!''_ I began to panic and went over to the barrels, ignoring what the other two were doing at the moment. Seeing the set of barrels i summoned a pair of clones to help me search the bomb since our giant was on its way here with the other one in tow. It took us some moments to locate the damn green snots floating in the barrel. ''Eew... and the poor giant was supposed to drink that'' A clone of mine gaged at the sight of it, which was closely followed by the second one.

''Cut the crap and dispose of the contents'' Saluting to me, they both vanished in a Shunshin with the barrel and i sighed. Walking out of the cave i saw that Brogy was there with the other giant looking for the missing barrel i took.

''Little one, there seems to be a barrel missing'' Brogy asked me and i scratched the back of my head.

''I got thirsty when i spotted the barrel and one thing let to another'' They both laughed and i also added my nerveous small laughter in the mix. When the other giant left, Brogy told us about those human skeletals in his cave, saying that they died waiting their Log to set. ''You tell me some even attacked you guys? Even Luffy isn't that dumb... i sincerely hope so''

Our conversation went back to talking about Elbaf, something Usopp was eager to listen and i sat down in a log mildly listening to them. I was now thinking about the event happening now, but my train of though was interrupted by a hand on my shoulder. Following the hand i saw Nami, who averted her gaze from me and looked down. Deciding to let her say whats on her heart i patiently waited when i got reply.

''I wanted to say that i'm sorry'' She began, but i kept my silence while seeing Usopp making some animated expression with the giant just laughing. ''I shouldn't have judged anyone without...''

''Its alright'' I managed to cut her off. ''You two were scared and i can understand that, just don't go over board with your assumptions'' I smiled at her. ''So if anyone should've apologize its me. I knew better than to yell at you guys'' She just dismissed it as we both being wrong and talked more about how should we get out of this place. ''I think it would be better to discuss this further with the crew and come up with a decent plan'' I saw her nod when another great eruption came from the volcano and the giant once again excusing himself.

I tuned the rest what Nami and Usopp were saying and started to look around the cave for something intresting. It was larger than i first though, but looking closely, it was a ribcage of some huge ass creature. One thing was obvious, there was a lot of bones. Humans, animals and i could've swear there were some fishmen bones. Shrugging and walking undisturbed over the piles of bones i began singing a song about bones.

''The toe bone connected to the heel bone,  
>The heel bone connected to the foot bone,<br>The foot bone connected to the leg bone,  
>The leg bone connected to the knee bone,<br>The knee bone connected to the thigh bone,  
>The thigh bone connected to the back bone,<br>The back bone connected to the neck bone,  
>The neck bone connected to the head bone,<br>Oh, hear the word of the Lawd!''

Now i just began to smash the damn skulls with my foot and kept singing.

''Dem bones, dem bones gonna walk aroun'  
>Dem bones, dem bones, gonna walk aroun'<br>Dem bones, dem bones, gonna walk aroun'  
>Oh, hear the word of the Lawd!''<p>

It was something we used to sing back at the school days and the funny thing was that it begun with 'Ezekiel connected dem dry bones'. Turning around to look at the odd cackling noise behind me i saw the bones i smashed moving. ''What the hell?'' Taking a step back to see the gathered bones slowly rising i rubbed my forehead. ''Yup! There's definetely something wrong going on here''

The stacked bones now where humanoid reddish colored skeletons with two saw-bladed shields that were also made from bones. My problem here lied at the amount of them, which were about 16 of them. With a loud scream they all ran at me sloppily. ''Great...''

To be continued.

I don't usually do cliffhangers, but when i do it is to get more reviews. - The most intresting author in the world.


	16. Rumble in the Jungle – Part 2

**Chapter 16: Rumble in the Jungle – Part 2.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Broggy's Camp, Ezekiel's POV]

''You guys look way too familiar, have we met?'' I curiously asked the boney creatures, which went to deaf ears. ''Of course my guestion went to deaf ears, since you guys don't have ears! Finally! I made a skull joke! Yohohohoho!''

[Florian Triangle, With Brook]

*Atshoo!* *Sniff*

''What was that? Someone must've used my joke''

[Back with Ezekiel]

''Whoa!'' There was barrage of those sharp shields thrown at me and i remembered what those things were called. Finis Demons from Devil May Cry 2.

I hated them since they always came in herds and i started to run away like a bitch, but now the time came to redeem myself. Unsheating my tanto that pulsed from the contact, i rammed it into the nearby Mortfinises skull where it shattered, but still kept rampaging around headless. Three more were assaulting me from the left and five more from the right. Jumping high into the air, i instead attacked the ones that were a bit further away and swung the tanto. Surprise was in my face when the skeletons jumped back and still got slashed in half, but this time by the lenghtened tanto.

''Ooh! A mystery tanto!'' I grinned at it and sounded like Luffy when he saw something extraordinary. ''I think this is the beginning of a wonderful friendship'' Hearing some whizzing sounds i jumped again and saw the shields with the jagged edges under me. Had i not jumped, i would've lost my legs to those. Deciding to test more of my unnamed lengtening tanto i tried again, but this time using Chakra to it. As i expected it did its work and slashed my opponents in half with the now 6 metres long tanto. Looking around i saw the ones that i 'killed' were still squirming and the 5 more stood a while back observing me, but still went after me. ''You guys are weak''

I had enough of my fun today and setted a sequence of hand seals while shouting. ''Raiton: Jibashi (Lightning Release: Earth Flash)'' A sizzling lightning escaped my palms towards the ground where it rippled towards the mass structures of bones. It didn't take too long before they all vanished in black ash, which the Cold Wind picked it up and escorted it out of the cave.

''Well that was fun while it lasted, better go see the others'' Walking out of the cave i looked around and couldn't spot my companions of the day. Shrugging i jumped into a tree and decided to look for them with the help of few clones. ''I swear, those two will one day tear my head in half if given the chance'' I first thought that they were still afraid of the giant and i was beginning to worry since i also couldn't see the said giants up there either.

There was suddenly a memory of my clone that made my blood boil and my vision red. The damn Baroque agents got the others and the giant in some kind of Wax set. Bastard even tortured Brogy by placing those Wax spears in his hands and legs and dared to get in the middle of their fight. The voices that has been plaguing me since i absorbed the orb were setting some whispers in my head.

''_**Release us... Master**_'' I didn't get what they meant, but it kept filling me with more Chakra and with that an equal amount of hatred. Not paying any heed to it, i used Shunshin to get to my location in pronto.

[Dorry and Brogy's Battlefield, General POV]

''...That bitter, mournful, agonized expression is the highest form of art!'' A man with a number 3 styled hair blue/white striped vest and glasses said to the restrained Brogy. The other giant was in the same situation with multiple scorch marks and a deep gash on his shoulder.

''Oh no! I can't move my hands! I don't want to die like this!'' Nami shouted from the Wax setting that was pouring Wax spores on them.

''My body is already hardening! What can we do!'' The Princess of Arabasta shouted in equal panic as the Straw Hat navigator.

''Zoro, think of something!'' Nami shouted.

''Oi! Ossan'' The swordsman said. ''You can still move, right?'' Getting an affirmative from the conscious Brogy he continued. ''Feel like killing these guys with me?'' Unsheating his two swords the attention was now focused on Zoro.

''Zoro, what are you-?'' A frantic Nami said. ''You're not going to-!''

''Yeah'' Came the short reply.

''Cutting off your own legs! Stop joking around!'' Nami shouted at the swordsman.

''There's no need to do that, Zoro'' A cold voice spoke from their left side revealing Ezekiel with the Sharingans active and arms crossed over his chest.

Sheating his swords back the swordsman grinned at him. ''About damn time your here''

''Ezek-Kun!'' ''Ezekiel-San!'' The other captives shouted in relief.

''Ooh! Another victim to my art'' Mr.3 grinned in satisfaction.

''You're the guy that was also in Whiskey Peak'' The other male Agent stated the obvious. ''You'll pay for what you did to me and my partner''

Letting a horrendous laughter that escaped also added her own two cents. ''If that runt is also weak as his captain, we got nothing to worry about'' That of course made the mentioned 'runt' frown and put his hand in an odd sign, but didn't stop there as there were more of it.

''Is he retarded?'' pointed at the hand signs, but dropped at what he did next.

''Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu)'' Ezekiel expelled a giant fireball the size of a truck at the spinning Wax set that was pouring the spores on his nakamas. ''You guys just stand there, i'll be with you in a minute'' Just then he rolled out of the way in time to let the remaining Straw Hats and a duck rocket through the clearing with a warcry of their own. ''Make it two minutes''

''Let's do it, Usopp! Bird!'' Luffy announced, getting affirmative from the two. The captain looked further at the deadpanned expression of Ezekiel. ''Ezekiel! Where have you been!''

''I was ambushed by yet another herd of freaks and you ruined my cool entrance! Every magician has a cool entrance!'' He childlishly waved his hand at the captain making everyone in the vicinity sweatdrop.

''Master Brogy! We're here to avenge your suffering!'' There came a small yet noticable muttering of 'Usopp' from the giant.

''Just beat these guys to a bloody pulp 'til they're full of holes, then send 'em flying!'' The relieved navigator shouted at the 3 humans and 1 duck.

''Will do! You guys stay pretty over there. You too Zoro'' The mutter of 'Fuck you' wasn't registered in the magicians head.

Cracking his knuckles, Luffy walked over to the Officer Agents. ''They ruined the Giant-ossans' duel! I'll kick their ass!''

''Oh, it's you_ two_? The men with the highest bounty in East Blue? The Marine Headquarters seems to have lowered its standards'' Mr.3 shrugged.

Stopping, Luffy stared at him wide-eyed. ''Whoa! You've got a weird head! It's a 3! A 3 and it's on FIRE!''

''Luffy damn it! Get your priorities in order!'' Shouted Ezekiel. ''Were here to beat our enemies, not compliment them!'' It seemed that he got the full attention of Mr.3

''You! How dare you interfere with my art!''

''Ha! You call that art!'' Ezekiel sneered and pointed his finger at the Officer Agent. ''True art is something that captures the eyes of your audience, not avert them with that abomination!''

The insult hit home. ''Spitting fire is NOT an art!''

''I can do more than that you artless sack of wrinkless!''

''And what does a brat like you know about true art!''

''Will you two knock it off!'' Nami had enough of their arguments and so did the others, while the two glared at each others.

''Mr.3, those people seem very relaxed'' The youngest Officer Agent pointed at the captured pirates/Princess.

''And you are the same, Miss Goldenweek!'' Her elder partner exlaimed and looked around us in slight irritation that his 'art' was interrupted. ''Ever since those two showed up, they've been...'' A lightbulb appeared on top of his head. ''Of course! And looked at Luffy who was slamming his fists together. ''Though he doesn't seem to be a particularly reliable man, if you ask me...though'' His sight went back to his rival in art. ''He might be a problem with his fire ability''

''Mr.3'' The other male Agent said. ''Let _us_ finish that brat. We still haven't forgotten what he did to us back in Whiskey Peak''

Mr.3 looked at the strecthing Ezekiel and was planning to use the other Agents to distract him. ''Very well then, i, on the other hand will add Straw Hat Luffy to my collection, personally''

''Don't you creeps ever shut up!'' The duck riding sharpshooter exclaimed. ''Let's do it!'' That said they retreated back in the jungle behind some trees. ''Okay! Preparations are complete! I've got you two covered, Luffy! Ezekiel!''

They both didn't register what Usopp said. ''You say something?''

''I think it's time to begin! Candle Lock!'' And threw a wave of liquid Wax at the rubberboy, locking his legs in a Wax lock.

''What the hell is that!'' Usopp shrieked from his hiding position.

''Luffy-san!''

''What, he got caught already?''

''Klutz!'' The three Wax set residents shouted at the captain.

''What is this stuff? It's as heavy as a hammer'' Luffy exclaimed when a column of fire appeared beside him.

''Seriously Luffy, your way too troublesome for your own good'' Setting a short sequence of hand seal he said to his captain. ''Hold still for a moment'' And blew a small stream of fire from his mouth at the Candle lock on his leg. The lock got soft enough for Luffy to break free without getting the captain burned. A few sigh of relief came from the pirates around at the timely intervention.

''I told you not to interfere! Candle Arts Harpoon!'' Mr.3 threw a harpoon made of Wax at Ezekiel only for him to bend backwards just as the huge projectile went past his head. Correcting his footing he made another of those hand seal.

''Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu)'' Ezekiel exhaled yet another fire Jutsu, but this time it came as a volley of small fireballs at Mr.3, which were intersepted by umbrella.

Letting out another of her witch-like laughter she twirled her umbrella. ''My umbrella is made out of fire resistant fabric, so your ability wont work on it''

The fight continued between Luffy and Mr.3 with Luffy getting his arm locked in Wax and him attacking the candleman with it. Luffy managed to get past his enemies Candle Wall by punching his locked arm.

''M-Mr.3'' Mr.5 stuttered seeing the higher Agent receiving a punch and skidding through the clearing.

''Impossible!'' The other female Agent said.

''Konoha Senpū! (Leaf Whirlwind!)'' Ezekiel shouted and released a barrage of kicks and punches at the dazed lower ranked Agents, seperating them from next to each other in a good distance away. Dusting himself, he grinned. ''Always wanted to do that! Oi! Luffy, i got a new magic trick for ya, wanna see?''

''No'' Was the emotionless reply from the Straw Hat captain.

Ezekiel was confused. ''Come again?''

''No''

''You don't want to see a super-mega-awesome Ninjutsu?''

''Why should i? I don't care about them''

Walking up to his captain and gave him a hard stare. ''That's not nice, Luffy''

''Colors Trap'' A small mutter came from the younger partner of Mr.3, Miss Goldenweek, where she was peacefully eating her cookies in her little picnic set.

*Boom!*

''Bastard dares to hit me'' Mr.5 said with his revolver pointed at the explosion where Ezekiel and Luffy occupied.

There was a huge dust cloud obscuring their vision when Ezekiel emerged from there with a little bit of soot in his shirt. The magician didn't have much time to think when a 10,000 kilogram heavy woman dropped from the sky. Resuming his evasive manuavers he saw that something yellow was on his way. Jumping high to dodge the now identified yellow paint blotch a barrage of Wax arrows was heading his way. Not having a chance to dodge those in mid-air, Ezekiel was assaulted by the Wax arrows.

''Ezekiel-San!'' Vivi frantically yelled, but was amazed when the pierced magician turned into a log that was instead pierced with the arrows and heard a shout of ' Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!'. Suddenly there came a barrage of fireballs at Mr.3 who shielded himself with a Wax wall.

''We seem to have a stubborn one here'' Muttered Miss Goldenweek while still muching the cookie.

Resuming his stance, Ezekiel made yet another set of hand seals but was interrupted by the gun that Mr.5 was carrying. Looking around, he saw that Luffy was being manipulated by the little girl with the emotion changing paints. Looking at the floating yellow dressed woman with the umbrella, he thought of a plan. Seeing another sets of those invisible Bomb Breaths of Mr.5 and evading them in a weird movements, he didn't register a attack coming at him from the higher Agent.

''Candle Lock!'' The white liquid Wax was heading towards Ezekiel and hit home and enqulfed his right arm. ''Hahaha! Now _you_ can't perform that art of yours without your hands!''

''Ezek-Kun!'' A paniced Nami yelled at the first mate.

''Shit. He can't do much without both of his hands'' Zoro scowled. ''And our captain can't help him much in that area''

''What do you mean?'' Vivi asked the restrained pirates beside her.

''As long as i knew him, Ezekiel always used both his hands to do those signs. He's now between a rock and a hard place with those four tagging him''

''Man, thats some sturdy Wax'' Ezekiel mused and knocked it with the other available hand. ''Usopp, you know the rest!'' Unsheating his tanto and throwing it towards the ground he ran a bit further away from it and his opponents with the lock still present in his arm.

''What am i supposed to do?''

''What is he doing?'' Mr.5 said while looking at the retreating Ezekiel.

''Aim at the lock with your Starfire when i give you a sign!'' And turned around looking at Miss Valentine. Summoning a handful of Kunais and throwing at her which she dodge in mid-air in another direction. Running back towards his tanto that was stuck in ground he blocked Mr.5's Bomb Bullet's with the Candle lock. What he did next was completely unsuspected from the agents when he... stepped on top of his tanto.

''The hell...'' Nami deadpanned.

''Are you sure we can trust our lives to them?'' Vivi shouted at Zoro.

The next thing that happened was the tanto lenghtening and giving a huge boost to Ezekiel straight towards the floating female Officer Agent. ''Usopp, Now!'' Showing his Candle lock for Usopp to aim, he shot a flaming ball towards it. Setting the thing ablaze, Ezekiel reared his Candle flaming arm and shouted. ''Meteor Smash!'' The flaming fist hit Valentine straight in her stomach, where she crashed towards the ground in a heap of fire and dirt.

''He did it!''

''What the hell was that with his tanto?'' Vivi and Zoro shouted/inquired. ''At least he got rid one of them''

Landing with a thud in the ground Ezekiel looked at his slightly burnt and free hand. ''I knew that 'art' of yours is a complete waste of time'' Ezekiel sneered and looked around himself, where he just saw Mr.5 coming at him with a fist aimed at his head. Moving his head, Ezekiel dodged it and was about to add a kick of his own when he stopped it before it connected with the Agents head. They were both were in a short stalemate for awhile when Mr.5 was about to Bomb punch him, forcing Ezekiel to dodge it once more and continue it for a long while.

''Come on! Hit him already!'' Nami shouted at the fighting duo.

''I think its better wise if he keeps that up'' Vivi assumed and got the attention of the other pirates. ''Mr.5 ate the Bomu Bomu no Mi, which gives him the ability to turn any part of his body into bomb without hurting himself and renders all explosive based attacks useless''

''So unless he wants to lose a limb or two, he'll have to get some distance from him'' Mused Zoro while looking at the fight in hand.

At this point, Usopp shot a smoke bomb at the two. Obscuring their vision when Ezekiel emerged from it no worse for wear. Landing next to the sharpshooter he gave him a nod. ''Thanks man'' Looking at the direction of their captain he scowled. ''Bastards having a picnic with the brat, while were working our butt off''

''Do you have a plan?'' Usopp inquired him while looking at the other two male Agents.

''Try to regain some sense into Luffy while i'll cover for you''

''And how do you...?'' Two columns of white smokes later there was couple indentical copies of Ezekiel. ''Nevermind''

''What kind of Fruit-user are you?'' Mr.3 guestioned unbelievingly. ''You can spit fire, replace yourself with a object and make replicas of yourself!''

''I already told you that my art is superior to yours!'' Ezekiel shouted and turned to his clones. ''Your job is to cover for Usopp and Carue from incoming attacks'' After a quick 'Hai!' they flanked Usopp who was on top of Carue, while the real one made more hand seal ending it with a Rat Seal. ''Raiton: Raiken! (Lightning Release: Lightning Fist!)'' This is a relatively a bastardized version of Chidori. Instead of piercing the opponent with it, the Raiken will coat the users hand in a Lightning Chakra which will release a shocking and concussive force on the enemy. _''The good thing is it takes half as long to recharge''_

Using Shunshin with the Lightning Chakra, Ezekiel made a fast zig-zag patterns at Mr.5. As he got closer to the Agent he slammed the Lightning infused fist straight in his jaw. There was a giant booming sound around the clearing and a huge dust cloud.

When the cloud of dust and dirt cleared away, there was Mr.5 down for the count with a bad scorch mark in his right jaw.

Shaking his hand that was slightly singed, Ezekiel grinned. ''And that's two'' Looking at the pair of clones with the duck and the sharpshooter, he saw just in time seeing Usopp shooting a flaming fireball at Luffys shirt. After that was done the clones were solified as a Wax figures by Mr.3 who looked pissed. Shrugging, the first mate went to the other restrained captives to probably free them.

''Good job Usopp, Carue. I'm sure you can take out the other Agent...'' Ezekiel looked around, but couldn't spot the paint set wielding girl. ''Forget it'' Stopping in his tracks he looked at the burned Luffy slowly rising from the ground. ''Can you take out the rest, i'll go free our nakamas in the meantime''

The captains eyes were shadowed by his hair and crouched down to see if hes alright, but took a step back by the fury look in his eyes. Those eyes were directed at Mr.3 and Ezekiel thought that it would be better to let the captain sort his anger out.

There was a blood curdling scream from the forest and looking at it, there emerged 2 Ravagers and 6 Mortfinis Demons all with a yellow/green paint on their foreheads.

''What the hell are those!'' Nami shouted in fear and the attention were on the beasts and demons.

Walking up to the beasts in irritation, Ezekiel shouted. ''Not you fucking guys again! I had enough of you stalking my ass!'' Looking at Usopp with the Sharingans he said. ''Usopp, free the others while i'll handle these flocks of freaks!''

[Dorry and Brogy's Battlefield, Ezekiel's POV]

Walking up my tanto and picking up, it gave a slight vibration of satisfaction. Dismissing it as a weird behaviour of the short sword i swung the tanto in a wide arc, lengtening it to dispatch half of the bone demons and cutting a Ravagers 'leg' off. Deciding to finish the other bone creatures with the same Earth Flash Jutsu, it did its job of rendering the remaining bones into ashes and the Ravager into a green puddle. Searching for the other one that was hidden underground i smirked. Waiting for the right moment for it to emerge, i grabbed it by its mouth and held it back from eating me. Swinging my body so that i landed on its head i took out my tanto and speared the whole thing into shish-kebab. ''Yup, these are weak and for once i'm glad they didn't use the acid spit thing''

Looking back at my nakamas i saw that Usopp wrapped a rope around the Wax set and set it ablaze with the pirates and Princess in it. Sweatdropping at the... unique way to remove Wax from them i shrugged with my lenghtened tanto leaning in my shoulder while it still had the Ravager pierced on it.

''Yo'' I managed to say and get their attention. Though i didn't see Luffy and though that he went after Mr.3 with Carue.

''Care to tell us what the hell that thing is'' Zoro pointed at the dead Ravager.

''Oh this? Its called dinner'' They were appalled by my proclamation and gave them a dismissing smile. ''Just kidding, these things are filled with acid so it wouldn't make any decent meal''

The giant Brogy also managed to get out of the Wax trap and wail at his fallen rival/friend. After that it went just like in the anime with the other giant standing up and tell us he was unconscious the whole time. The axe that Brogy hit was infact dull from the 100 years of usage, so it kinda worked as a giant club. The fun part was when the giants were playfully hitting each other, like i used to with my siblings and it continued till they were about to continue their fight.

[Moments Later]

After getting some bandages... well a crap load of bandages for Dorry with the help of my clones and the other giant. Dorry even laughed that they still had a bounty on their heads.

''But the reason they initially came to this island was because of me'' Vivi started to pity herself, but Nami pinched her cheek.

''Would you cut that out?'' She reprimanded the Princess.

I managed to pinch the other cheek just for the hell of it and reprimand her too. ''Nami's right, no need to whip yourself with pity because of it''

''Their both right, Vivi. What are you so down about?'' Luffy inquired and offered a senbei for us.

''Mmm... Senbei'' I drooled at them and sat with the guys and the duck eating the rice cracker.

''Where did you guys get those?'' Nami asked us, but was ignored.

''Yosh! Time for a senbei party!'' Luffy announced and held his senbei high.

''We still need those teas to drink this dry crap''

''Can we kanpai with the crackers?'' The captain asked me.

''Yar da cadpdain'' I mumbled with 6 rice crackers stuffed in my mouth.

''Really?'' Luffy seemed to understand what i said. ''Kanpai!'' He then looked at me. ''Oi! Your eating the whole bag!'' Where Luffy, Usopp and Carue hogpiled me and tried to steal my senbeis from my mouth.

I heard a small wince of pain from Nami and looked at her. She was wearing her usual attire, but the shirt she wore was burned leaving her with black bras. As much as i'd like to look at them i was focused on the red blotch on her stomach and widened my eyes. _''Crap, crap, crap!''_ Swallowing the senbeis, much to the disappointment of the guys i went to Nami and took off my hoodie i had on today with a azure sleeveless shirt.

''Here, this should keep the bug bites away'' And offered her my cloth with a forced smile. At that moment i was worried sick about her future health.

She was rubbing the red spot on her stomach, but gave me a relieved smile and wore the offered hoodie. ''Still warm...''

I jerked my head back to her and raised an eyebrow. ''What was that?''

Blushing furiously, which made me worry if a fever came on to her. ''Nothing, it was nothing''

The giants offered their assistance, where Luffy 'negotiated' them to do something about our current problem when Sanji's crying Nami and Vivi's name in his 'Sanjish' voice. After that i tuned it down and went to the downed Ravager. Giving it a light kick to its snout i grabbed its tough skin and pulled it away with a sickening crunch. Croutching down to see it closer, there was the same black orb that my previous victims had when died.

''And you just had to have this crap wrapped around your brain, peachy...'' Grabbing it, i yanked it out with a cry. When i was done, i looked at it closer and was surprised that it didn't turn into dust like the others. I held it towards the sun and saw it had those weird scribbles that was found in my mindscape. _''Maybe the giants know something about this''_

''Oi! Shitty magician, what the hell were you doing there with that thing!'' Sanji shouted from his spot and got the attention of the crew on me where i was dissecting the Ravager. Grabbing the thing by its weird 'snout' i dragged it toward the giants.

''Care to tell me what these thing do here?'' I asked the giants. They both looked at the thing and shook their heads.

''No idea, those were here in this island longer than we have and they always seeked troubles'' Brogy said.

Nodding i held the black orb high. ''And what about this?'' Of course they couldn't see the tiny dot so i jumped on Dorrys hand where i held it in front his eye.

''Sorry little one. I've never seen something like that''

Nodding i jumped from his palm and in front of my nakamas while examining the orb. It was about the size of a babys head, which was actually pretty decent sized for a orb. Taking a scroll from my back pocket i went back to the Ravager.

''What are you doing, Ezekiel-San?'' Vivi asked me. Looking at her with the orb twirling in my finger i explained to her.

''See this? This is the most troublesome thing this world has to offer and i just managed to rip it out of that things brain'' Her face turned a bit green at that. ''I also need to do further studies with the Ravager so...'' Unrolling the scroll in the ground i somehow managed to seal inside my scroll. ''Finished, let's go''

''Oi! Can you eat that thing?'' Luffy asked me and i could only sigh at that, it truly was a long day in the jungle.

**[To Be Continued]**

This was supposed to be released yesterday, but i got carried away and forgot about you guys for a hour or fifteen. What surprised me was the amount of reviews and how positive they were. I mean really, to be compilmented by your story like that. There's not better feeling than that, except senbeis with tea.

I decided to fasten up the story to Drum island mainly because i have no idea.

And what are those mystery orbs? Does someone control those other beasts and stuff? Who will win the hunting contest between Zoro and Sanji? Would the author stop this already?

Remember to Review!

To end this chapter... wish me luck on my career in MW3 -


	17. Off to Drum Island

**Chapter 17: Off to Drum Island.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Western Little Garden, Ezekiel's POV]

''Oi! Ezekiel, which one of us has the biggest hunt!'' Zoro and Sanji shouted at me, probably to add me in their banters while i was reprimanding our crews orange mascot.

''My Ravager has more eyes, so i win!'' Turning back from them with an annoyed expression i continued my banter. ''What was it that you did this whole damn day!''

''I invented a cool gadget for ya, so a little appreciation here thank you!'' I raised my eyebrow at that.

''Since when can you build things?''

''Keira taught me a thing or two''

''The chick with the green hair and pointy ears?'' After i got a nod from Daxter i shrugged. ''Just don't blow this whole ship up''

We still continued with our through the jungle into the west side of Little Garden where the two giants stood. Walking up to the railing with the ottsel now in my shoulder i tried to remember what happened in this one. The giants were making some kind of speech about us guarding their honor and that we'll keep sailing forward no matter what.

''Look up ahead!'' Nami shouted beside me. How did she get there without me noticing? I'm probably starting to get tired. It wasn't much later when something was about to emerge from the sea below us.

''A... goldfish?'' And a pretty damn huge one. I remember them being called Island Eater and that it likes to eat islands. That thing opened its mouth wide and i was just drawing the massive thing like it was an everyday occurence. I could feel that the giants were focusing onto something... big energy like thing around their weapons. Shrugging i went back to my art at work.

''Turn the helm! Hurry, or we'll be eaten! Everyone, hurry!'' Nami was shouting at us, but Luffy made it clear that we'll go straight forward. ''Are you insane! This thing isn't like Laboon!'' But the ever relaxed captain was just munching the senbeis in his favorite spot on top of Merry. Luffy threw a rice cracker at Nami, which she caught and gave it to me. ''We've got to turn the ship around! We're all gonna be...''

''*Chomp* Just give it up, soft lips'' I looked ahead and offered the partially eaten cracker. ''Here, have a bite'' Which she reluctantly did so and grabbed my scarf.

''Luffy! We can trust those guys, right!'' Sanji probably tried to install some sense into the captain and i was looking at the maw of the thing. Luffy gave our ship a short 'Yup' and also watched the maw.

''Seriously? Are we really going to sail straight into that monster!'' Vivi paniced.

By now, Nami was grabbing my arm and i could've swear, if given the chance she could rip it off. ''It's too late! We can't stop now!'' I could see that she had tear stains in the corner of her eye.

''Relax, if things get too ugly we'll just tear the fish a new one'' I exclaimed and Luffy plainly laughed at my idea.

When the giant goldfish thing closed its maw, i swear, i couldn't feel BOTH of my arms. I though that i imagined things and let it slide. Probably i am scared of that thing too i guess.

''Straight ahead! S-Straight ahead!'' Usopp said in between shouts of his own, i just closed my eyes and tuned out the rest and calmly listened the fishies booming heartbeat. Weird thing is that i'm always calm when i hear heartbeats. It gives me an euphoria feeling. Don't know it that came from though and dismissed it as being a weird behaviour of mine.

Opening my eyes again to see the darkness i shouted. ''Guys, brace yourselves! Something big is heading this way!'' And right on time a massive red/blue colored energy that the giants were emanating went past our heads towards the other side of the goldfish.

*Boom!*

There was a sudden bright light when we saw the clear blue ocean with its sky in front of us once again. The burst of energy made a enormous hole in the goldfishes head and gave us a huge boost forward.

After the whole fiasko of Luffy and Usopp cheering i looked down and saw our navigator AND the Princess gripping on both of my arms. ''As much as i'd like to be like this, i prefer my hands mobile thank you'' Vivi looked at my arm and back at my face then again back to my face and blushed, while looking away. Though our Nami was still gripping, harder this time and she was breathing harder. Walking up to the mast and setting her there to sit down and rest for a while, i told her i'll get a glass of water for her.

''Ez...'' Daxter said. ''What's next?''

''Nothing yet, so chill'' Remembering something i took out my black orb from my pocket and gave it to him. ''Could you decipher or at least make notes of this thing?'' He looked at it weirdly. ''The juice is empty so no need to worry about something corrupting you'' I assured him. That said the Precursor took it and went to the gallery.

When i got the glass of cold water for Nami that was still leaning on the mast. I saw that she briefly gave the Eternal Pose to Vivi to look at it while she takes a small break.

''Now you can finally go home to Arabasta. Well, if we don't run into anything else on the way there, of course'' I saw her grin at what she said and sat next to her.

''Did i tell you that i like women who make witty comments about something serious?'' And offered her the cold glass of water with ice cubes. She looked at me with the grin still visible, but i saw it was now a strained one.

Vivi wanted to add something of her own. ''Yes, i must return home. Now, the only way to save my country is by telling the truth'' She was reminiscing something and gripped the Eternal Pose harder. ''I will make it to Arabasta alive''

''And you will, since you got the best nanny the Grand Line has to offer!'' I boasted and pointed at myself with my thumb.

Sanji, not wanting to left out, also added that she has him to protect her and placed a delicious looking little cakes in front of us. He looked at us guys and told that our snacks are in the kitchen where Luffy, Usopp and Carue ran into the gallery. There was a barrage of shouts and crashing going on and i just smiled. ''Why don't you loser also go eat?''

I was startled at that. ''What was that all about?'' The guy was once again acting hostile towards me and for the sake of it, if its because of the girls nearly ripping my arms off instead of him, we could have a problem here. Slightly narrowing my eyes i gave a sigh and looked at Nami. ''You should probably go to sleep'' I saw she was barely holding her conscious and my worries were rising. ''Screw it'' I now didn't care what others though by now and grabbed Nami under her legs and carried her to the womens cabin.

''Oi! What the hell are you doing!'' Sanji was about to make a grab at me, but stopped when i glared at him with the Sharingans.

''The girl is obviously suffering from an illnes and she needs rest'' Walking towards the direction of her room i looked around the ship. ''Vivi, watch our heading, Sanji, prepare a first aid kit for me and also bring a cold water with a clean cloth with you''

I could feel she was breathing harder and harder and her Chakra levels were going haywire at the moment. It didn't take me too long to set her on the bed with the others surrounding us. Sanji managed to bring the equipments i requested, thank goodness.

''Is Nami-San gonna die? Is she, Vivi-chan, Ezekiel?'' Our cook asked us while munching on a napkin in nervousness.

Vivi set the wet cloth on Nami's forehead. ''It is probably due to the climate one of the obstacles seafarers invariably face upon entering the Grand Line is the threat of illness due to the unnartural climate. It's not unusal for fearless pirates, even those with great reputation in other seas to succumb to the climate and pass away. Even the slightest of symptoms may lead to death if they are not treated immediately''

''I don't think i share your perspective Vivi'' I had my Sharingan-eyes active and could see a large gathering of Chakra in her abdominal area in a small spot near the navel. Standing up i began to drag the guys out of the cabin. ''Check the skin area near her navel and tell us what you see''

When the guys plus me were outside worrying our ass off, Vivi came from the cabin and told us to follow her. ''There was indeed something in her skin where you told me. It looked like a bite mark of somekind'' She then looked around us. ''Is there anyone on this ship who has even the slightest medical knowledge?''

Sighing, i raised my hand. ''Usopp, could you get the huge scroll from the gallery. Take Dax with you to show which one'' There was a sound of someone running upstairs towars the gallery.

''But she'll get better if she eats some meat! Right, Ezekiel? Sanji?' Luffy inquired, totally oblivious about the seriousness of this predicament.

''Well, i'm going to prepare her food that will help her recovery, but all that amounts to is nursing. Just feedin her the right food won't be enough'' And said something about being in sea and making our ships resident females food hundred times better than ours.

''Ez, the roll of paper is here. Want me to set it for ya?'' I just nodded while keeping an eye on Nami with an solemn expression. Or i hoped i had a solemn expression since this was serious as hell, where she could die. Standing up from my chair next to the bed i walked to the huge roll of seal arrays on the scroll.

''What is that? It looks so cool!'' Luffy grinned.

Not paying any heed to it, i walked to the middle of the array and bit my thumb. Smearing the bleeding thumb on top of the array there was a small gasp from the crew when they saw the scribbles of blood i made, but it vanished when a small white smoke emerged from the scroll center. When the smoke cleared there was a yellow book and a small bag on top of the scroll. Grabbing those i sat down to my chair and leaned over to Nami.

She looked so frail in that state, but i shook my head from that image. ''Nami'' Tapping her cheek to get the small needed attention from her i smiled. ''How your doing?'' That was something Grandma asked me when i was sick.

''I've had better days'' Came the weak reply.

I grinned at her. ''Seems like you remember what i said about girls with witty comments. Listen, i want you to do something for me, ok?'' She gave a slight nod with a weak smile. Opening the bag, there was 5 identical red pills that i 'accidentally' had with me about a year ago when i landed here. Note, that it wont heal anything, since its main purpose is to reduce the pain. Its just a traditional japanese pain killer that i was forced to eat after few broken bones back at the dojo. It can also be used as a medicine, like in this situation.

Nami just eyed the pill that i had and looked back at me. ''What is that?''

Removing the sweat covered hair strands from her forehead i smiled at her. ''Its something that will make the pain go away, so i want you to swallow it'' After a nod, i placed the pill in her mouth and helped it down with a small sip of water on her part. ''Now, take it easy here. The pill won't cure away your illness, so i want you to rest for a while'' Leaning on my chair i opened the yellow book that contained my Ninjutsu repertoire and looked at the medical section.

It took about 5 to 10 minutes when Nami slowly got up. ''Nami-San'' Vivi muttered in a quite surprised voice.

''Ooh, she's cured! Good job Ezekiel!'' Luffy began to tap my back and i lost my consertration on the book i was reading.

''Didn't you hear me? She's still sick, but with less pain'' Thankfully, Usopp managed to hit the captain upside the head.

Nami looked slightly better and looked at us. ''In my desk drawer, there's a newspaper'' Vivi went to the drawer and indeed there was a newspaper about 2-3 days old. It said that 300,000 Imperial Soldiers have defected and joined the Rebel Army. So the whole thing in short... Arabasta is in a deep shit at the moment and Nami apologized about the hidden fact, but said that she meant well.

The troublesome navigator was about to stand up and told us that the illness will go away by itself. Following the sick Nami towards the deck i saw she was staggering a bit where i lend her my assistance by setting her arm around my neck. Escorting her out of the cabin after making sure she doesn't fall on me.

Seeing Zoro outside lifting weights, Nami reprimanded the swordsman. ''Just what the hell have you been doing?'' That damn swordsman was using the clouds as a heading. She was getting slightly dizzy and grabbed her head. ''I can't take this anymore, i'm getting a headache'' They continued to argue for a little while when a gentle breeze hit me.

''Is it me, or has the wind changed?'' I scratched my head and looked around us.

''Wind? It's been sunny all day'' Zoro mused, mostly to himself.

''Just call everyone out here!'' The sick navigator ordered.

Zoro managed to yell at the other guys to get to the deck, where they started arguing something about not listening to the other guys orders.

''A large wind is going to hit us head on'' Nami said when Luffy placed a hand on her forehead, which burned his rubbery hand.

''You're burning up! We need to stop the ship and get you to a doctor!''

''I'm fine and if something happens, the medicine Ezek-Kun gave me will help it!''

''Actually, i can't give you those anymore. One more and it will be a sure, painful death'' Well i don't know about the death part, but i've heard a guy killed himself _because_ of the pain. ''And believe me, you don't want to end up like the last guy'' She manage to order us around and it was once again done in a flash, when Vivi emerged from the gallery.

''I have a request to make!'' Vivi told us that she's thankful for our assistance and said that we have to hurry to Arabasta, pronto... but first we'll go find a island with a doctor. ''We must get Nami-San cured as quickly as possible, and then head to Arabasta! That's this ship's 'maximum speed', isn't it?''

Getting an affirmative from the grinning captain, Usopp added his own sentence. ''Are you sure? As the Princess, you have 1,000,000 people to worry about, right?''

''That's right! That's exactly why we must get Nami-San well as soon as possible!''

''Girls got some balls!'' The ottsel shouted, where i just slapped him over the head.

Deciding enough was enough, i went over to Nami and cast a simple Genjutsu to force her to sleep which wasn't really hard, since the girl was already weak. ''Vivi, get her to bed. We'll take care of the things here'' Nodding, she dragged the unconscious navigator back to her cabin to rest.

''Whoa! What the hell is that!'' Luffy shouted and pointed at the enormous swirling cyclone. ''It's Huge!'' That direction was the same direction we were headed before and we could've hit it straight on. After Luffy announced that we'll find a doctor, we all shouted with our fists held high. ''Aye!''

After the whole fiasko with the cyclone, there was yet another change in the weather. This time it snowed. Averting my gaze from the window i saw the still sleeping Nami with Vivi and me next to her. Sanji and Carue running around screaming didn't help me scowl at them. ''Keep quiet you two or you'll wake Nami up''

That did its job to stop the paniced cook and duck. I went closer and placed my fingers in her throat to see how's her pulse. ''How is it, Ezekiel-San?''

''She'll be fine once we find a decent doctor around here'' Standing up, i began to stretch. ''Her Chakra circulation system is somewhat fine for someone in her condition, since the pill managed to calm it down to some degree. Still, keep her body cool cause' she's nearly trespassing the human limit with that temperature'' I saw her looking down in sadness and i sighed. ''Its going to be alright. The plan now is to get a doctor to cure her, that simple...'' Then i heard someone shout my name from the upper deck and sighed again. ''...I better go see whats the problem this time''

Walking to the deck, i grabbed my dark purple winter coat with silver buttons and the olive green scarf. My pants consisted now of loose metal grey pants and black shoes. I had my tanto inside the huge scroll this time to look at it more later, now i had Yama with me in this cold weather ''What is it guys?''

''Do you know that guy?'' Usopp asked and pointed at the rip off version of the green joker, but this ones standing on top of ocean.

Looking at the weird looking joker also looking at us i waved at him. ''A chilly day today, isn't it?''

He just nodded at us with an indifferent gaze. ''It sure is''

I was now between Usopp and Luffy, where the latter nodded. ''It's very cold today'' The captain was still wearing his trademark attire, apparently the climate change didn't bother him, yet.

''Yeah, it's cold, real cold'' Usopp also nodded.

''Cold my ass... i'm freezing here!'' The ottsel stood now on my shoulder with a cloak wrapped around him.

''You think so?''

There was a sudden tremor going around us where i just raised an eyebrow. I knew the guy was standing on top of a ship/submarine thing that just emerged underneath the green joker. The submarine was a huge round one with a visible small crows nest on top of it. Our ship was shaking and i briefly saw Usopp rolling backwards whereas Luffy held the rail. I was just standing there with Chakra coating my feet that held me in the same position and looked lazily at the ship.

''What the heck is that? A watermelon?'' Luffy pointed at the huge metal covered ship.

''I be pretty sure that'd be ey' ship, captain'' I observed it while it indeed opened up to reveal a ship 10 times bigger than ours and a large metallic hippo with a crown emerged from the ocean as the head of the ship.

''A pirate ship? This changes things'' Daxter leaned on my head from my shoulder he stood. ''You want me to infiltrate the thing?''

Nodding, i managed to throw the ottsel at the ships crows head without anyone noticing. Looking at someone saying something, i averted my eyes back to an ambush Squad ready to invade us.

''Oi! What's going on-?'' Sanji barged from below deck and looked around.

Gazing indifferently at the surrounding Squad of green coated men with weapons aimed at us. Luffy lazily said that were being attacked.

''Are you lowlifes really pirates? You're just a bunch of weirdos'' A gruff, greasy like voice said. ''Looks like there's five of you'' A fat man with a tin-plate armor and a cylinder-shaped jaw... well its Wapol standing there eating his meat and all. And began to degrade us about the quantity of our crew. Those said he stated to munch his... knife?

''What's this guy's problem? He's eating a knife!'' Luffy deadpanned at the sight in front of him or he looked like he did.

The King of Drum Kingdom ignored the looks directed at him and asked if we happen to have an Eternal Pose or a Log Pose with us. We of course denied that and Luffy shouted at him to leave the ship, but the round man said that he'll plunder our ship and treasures. What happened next was him eating a part of the Merry with his huge mouth.

''Alright, you should really change that diet of yours'' I said when a grunt from Wapol pointed his gun at my forehead. ''Could we get this over with. For your information, we are in a bit of a hurry''

''We should've done this from the beginning'' I heard Zoro say from the crows nest.

''Oh, i can kick 'em now?'' Sanji said and sounded surprisingly happy about it.

Not paying any heed to any of the scream Usopp made, i made some fast attacks with the katana i had in my back. Slashing three grunts at the same time i was taken aback by the frostbites appearing in their gash where they squirmed in our deck. Smirking, i though of something new. Pointing the katana downwards i swung it in a wide arc upwards. The grunts were confused, but when the Cold Wind picked up, the 14 men were shocked to see deep gashes on their torso and were flung of the ship. _''So, the colder the climate, the better the katana. Yama could've told me that earlier''_

Thus, it ended with Luffy rampaging, getting eaten by Wapol and Wapol blasted off by the captains rubber bazooka.

''Took you long enough...'' I smirked when the orange mammal sat on my shoulder. ''You got any goods?''

The precursor grinned at me and showed an Eternal Pose to Drum Island. ''These guys really don't know how to store important items''

Walking in front of the crew i announced. ''Good news everyone!'' Seeing that i had the attention to myself and the Eternal Pose holding ottsel i continued. ''Dax here managed to retrieve us an Eternal Pose to Drum Island from the hippos ship''

''What's so special about that place?'' Sanji asked me curiously.

Taking the compass from Daxter, i grinned. ''The Island is famous for its doctors'' That seemed to trigger something and the previous tension was diminished. ''Watcha say, cap?'' He was dancing with Usopp about doctors, but i got my affirmative from him. ''Its getting pretty late here, so i suggest you guys go get some sleep while i'll steer the ship to our destination''

''And how are you going to do that by yourself?'' Vivi asked me. Blinking, i plopped 5 replicas of myself into existence with a single hand seal. She was still hesitant about leaving all the task for me to do, but in the end let it go.

''But why did the fat hippo ask our Log Poses, when he had one himself?'' Zoro asked after i managed to set the clones to their positions.

I thought about that. ''Maybe because they just wanted to rob our ship and assure that we'll get lost in the ocean and die or they simply lost their own in that gigantic ship. Either way, their loss now''

**[To Be Continued]**

That was some turn around, don't you think so? This next arc 'might' become longer, but i think you guys don't give a rats ass about it. The chapters wont be now so frequent, but i try to come something more intresting for the upcoming chappies.

- Of we got and i got few surprises for the next few chapters, so review! Like now!


	18. Lower Your Dignity, Not Your Heart

**Chapter 18: Lower Your Dignity, Not Your Heart.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Going Merry, Nighttime, Ezekiel's POV]

''Were right on the course here, Boss! We should arrive at Drum by noon!'' A clone of mine shouted from the crows nest. I gave it a nod and went to make some tea since it was cold as... it was cold.

''I wonder if the good doctor can cure my insomnia'' I mused to myself and honestly? Part of me wanted to get some sleep, but i'm too attached to it that i don't know now. Deciding to let it go for once, i went to see the others that were now sprawled all over Nami's room.

Smiling, i took three blankets from the closet and placed it on the Captain, the Cook and the Princess that were out like a light. Taking the book i was reading from the chair, i sat down with the tea in my hand.

_''Didn't know that medic Ninjutsus were that hard''_ Indeed they were, since that stuff requires a exceptional control in ones Chakra. Shrugging and that were getting nearer the Island i heard someone groaning. Moving the book from my face i saw Nami stirring up with the now present redness over her face indicating that she has a high fever. Closing said book, i saw the navigator sitting up and breathing raggedly.

''Do you feel any better now?''

She was startled first that someone was there, but calmed down afterwards and gave me a smile. ''I feel better yeah, thank you'' Looking around, she also spotted the sleeping pirates in her room and i chuckled a bit. The girl was covered in sweat and her hair wasn't their usual, but short messy ones with strands obscuring some of her vision.

''We should arrive at the next Island at noon, so bear with us for a while longer'' Looking at the tea i had, i decided to offer her that. ''Want some tea? It has a tint of tangerine flavor on it'' And who wouldn't know about Nami's favorite fruit.

Passing the tea for her to drink, i saw she was about to give it back when i declined it. Saying that i can make more later for myself later. We briefly heard Usopp and Daxter arguing in their sleep about gunpowders. Chuckling at their antics, i answered Nami's guestions about or headings and the usual about what happened when i used the Genjutsu on her.

''You do know that i'm going to have my revenge for doing that'' She stated at me with a cute glare.

Dismissing the glare with a smile of my own i stood up and grabbed her by the shoulders. The contact seemed to startle her and still had that cute confused expression when i gently set her lying on the bed. Pulling the cover on her so as to not let her freeze, she kept staring at me with a dazed look that i found attracting. ''Want me to kiss you a good night?'' It was meant to be a playful teasing on my part, but i was surprised when she nodded with a sincere smile.

''Well... i wouldn't mind'' And i briefly saw that our faces were closer than i first thougt. I was kinda nerveous about this, but got over it and gave her a kiss on the forehead. It was just a small kiss but it was enough to make her smile which i returned. ''Thank you'' Her voice sounded tired, but still kept her eyelids half-open.

Snapping out of my inner musing, our faces were still inches apart and i felt my face heat up. ''Uhm... one of my clones broke a nail or something... i.. should go, good night'' That said i walked up the stairs and was about to leave when i heard a schoolgirlish giggle. Chuckling in amusement myself, i went to fix the rail part where Wapol took a generous chomp of it.

[Morning]

''It looks good, nice job'' Someone said behind me as i was still fixing the damn rail. It took me awhile to find the nails Usopp scavenged, but in the end i managed to find them. Looking at the voice, it was the ships temporary shipwright.

I scratched me head in embarrasment. ''Sorry, i knew this was your job, but i got bored and needed something to pass the time''

The sharpshooter just dismissed it. ''Its ok, i understand'' He looked around the ship and saw that the clones were running around the ship cleaning it. ''You know, we could also ask the doctor to fix your sleep problems''

I was about to say more when Vivi also made her appearance. ''That would be great! After Nami-San feels better we could get a look at your illness''

Slightly put of from that i answered back. ''Do we really have time for that? We should just get there and leave, its not like i'm going to die'' She was about to protest. ''I've already made my choice and i won't change my mind. I appreciate your concern, but it really isn't anything serious''

After that, the ship was mostly silent and i dismissed the clones since there was no need for them. Feeling a weight in my shoulder, i saw Daxter with a red scarf and woolly hat of his own.

''Did you notice it's been getting colder and colder lately?''

''Brilliant deduction, Sherlottsel'' I replied sarcastically, but earned a tail whip to the back of my head. ''We're gettin' closer to the Island and the whole place is decoreted with snow so don't start bitchn' here about the weather''

''I still haven't got my thanks for getting the compass, dipshit''

''I did give you credit about it so be grateful'' That was our usual greeting that got a bit rare since the precursor spends his time in the cabin. Not one to pry on things, i left him be there. ''So you got anything about the orb?''

''Yeah, its just a hollow orb that radiated something that resembled those Dark Ecos back home. What ever it is, stay out of them. Theres no telling what will happen to you'' The ottsel was serious about that, something that really doesn't happen often. ''But who knows, it might have its pros and cons''

''What do you mean?''

''The other guy i used to travel with took those stuff as a power boosts that changed his whole person. I remember he was about to kill me once'' Daxter shivered at the memory, but i looked at my left palm where the other strange orb vanished. Clenching it, i saw Daxter hopping of my shoulder and probably to see the other creature of the ship.

''An Island!'' Luffy shouted running everywhere on the ship and ended his run-arounds in front of my face grinning. ''Its an Island!''

''Really?'' I said sarcastically, but was took as a guestion by Luffy who dragged me in front of the ship to look it.

''There it is! Now we can heal Nami!''

I deadpanned at his enthusiasm. ''I was sarcastic about it'' But i was relieved, normally we wouldn't arrive here this early and i was a bit agitated that i changed the storyline for worse than it already is. ''Stay on your toes, this is but another Island and people don't take pirates kindly''

Luffy was by now sitting on his favorite spot and the rubberboys wide mouthed shouts of 'Island' made me chuckle. ''White! It's so white! I bet it's snow! An island of snow!''

''Didn't i just tell you that the previous day?''

Sanji began telling Luffy that we don't have time going around the Winter Island like in Little Garden and we'll leave the second Nami's healed. Of course the cook was ignored by Luffy singing songs about the snowy island and Usopp shivering/muttering about snow monsters and weird diseases. Sighing, our cook went to prepare us something warm to eat.

I went down the deck to see our sick Navigator and saw Vivi changing the cloth on her head. ''How's she?''

The Princess was startled by my sudden appearance and turned her head so fast i could've sworn i heard a snap. ''The fever is getting worse and she seems to be in pain''

Nodding, i saw she was breathing harder. ''Guess the pills effect wore off, she'll have to bear with the pain for a while now. There isn't much we can do but wait''

She was off putted by my statement and looked down. ''You're right''

Walking to the counter where Sanji set some tea for Vivi, i began taking my own share of it. Pouring the steaming tea into a clean ceramic cup next to the kettle i sighed a relieved sigh. _''Now i know why Master liked tea''_ Sitting back in my chair next to Vivi i took a small, generous sips of it. ''The cook outdid himself''

''Ezekiel-San?'' Looking at the Princess with a raised an eyebrow signaling her to continue. ''Can i ask you a personal guestion?''

I had the cup near my lips. ''Sure'' And drank it again.

''Is there something going on between you and Nami-San?''

I was near coughing the tea on top of Nami, but held it and burned my tounge in my 'shockness'. Looking at the apologetic Vivi, i gave her a half-lidded stare. ''Pardon me?''

She waved her hands in front of her by my stare that i found was funny. Didn't know i had that kind of impact on people. ''I meant that you care about her... a lot''

_''Am i really that easy to read?''_ Looking back at the sleeping Nami i smiled. ''I care for you all the same, even you. Had one of you been in Nami's shoes now, i wouldn't have acted differently'' I turned to her with the same smile. ''What kind of a nakama would i be if i didn't?''

Standing up, we both made our way towards the deck to see Luffy now dressed in a winter jacket for once. There was a small weight on my shoulder, where Daxter pointed at the shadow that just vanished and gave him a nod that i saw it.

''Okay, someone has to go look for a doctor. Actually, we'd better find some people first'' Zoro announced.

''No need for that, the people found us'' I looked at the small cliff flanking us and there were herds of villagers in winter outfits and various guns pointed at us.

''That's far enough, pirates!'' Someone yelled from the mass of the hostile villagers.

''Oi, here's some people'' Luffy said, looking at surrounding people with intrest.

''But... they don't look very happy to see us''

''Who wouldn't, this isn't Whiskey Peak you know'' I told Usopp. There were some growls escaping around, when a man... you know... Dalton, demanded that we'll leave immediately.

''We came here to find a doctor!''

''We have a sick person on board!'' Luffy and Vivi shouted and i saw that these people were tense as hell. _''Give them guns and someone is bound to get shot... Wait! One of them **will** shoot us''_ I remember this scene all right, its actually one of the few scenes where i facepalmed for God knows what reason.

There were barrage of insults thrown at us when Sanji mused something to himself. Apparently, someone out there took it as a 'challenge' and shot Sanji near his leg.

''They fired!'' I heard Usopp shriek and i took out a single Kunai from my right sleeve.

''You'll regret that'' Sanji said darkly, unnerving the shooter with his gun still pointed at us. It wasn't much later when Vivi went in front of the enraged Sanji, when another shot was fired. I acted quickly and activated my Eyejutsu, where i saw a the fast bullet that was about to pierce Vivi's heart. Using the Body Flicker to reappear in front of the bullet i deflected it with the blunt side of the Kunai. As i held the Kunai in front of me i looked around if they'll shoot more, but was luckily stopped by Dalton's next order.

''No one will shoot without my orders! Is that clear!'' There was a lot of authority as he appeared to be the 'Alpha' of the wolf with guns. Showing that we're not a threat and we're not here to cause more problems than we already had, i threw my katana and tanto to the side with their scabbards. I even went as far as to throw away my jacket and scarf to the deck, much to the confusion of everyone. Bowing deeply until my head touched the cold wooden deck i clenched my fist and gritted my teeths.

''Please...'' I hated to beg people, because it made me feel weak and helpless and i never need one since it never worked. It was one of the reason i began martial arts many years ago. ''Please, our friend is in the verge of death and we just want to visit a doctor. I promise, i promise upon my life that we mean absolutely no harm and be off the second she's cured''

I was companied by Vivi saying that we only need a doctor and lashed out on Luffy who was about to attack the villagers. She said something about not acting rashly when his crew members obiously needed help. There was a moment of silence when Luffy also bowed next to me apologizing. ''Please call a doctor. Please... save my nakama''

I could feel the leaders gazing down us and was seriously thinking. ''Fine, i'll lead you to our village. Follow me'' And made a turn.

''See? They understood'' I heard Vivi say that to Luffy and i still had my head down in the deck.

''Yeah. You guys are something else'' And they both stood up. ''Ezekiel, lets go get Nami to a doctor''

I still didn't reply and it was Sanji who aproached me. ''We can go now, you can stop humiliating yourself''

''Could someone help me...'' Hearing small footsteps coming to my direction i cried. ''My head is stuck on to deck and i can't pull it off!'' There were five facefaults heard on the deck and one laughter from the Captain.

[Moments Later]

After we managed to seperate my forehead and the deck, i was given the task 'honor' of carrying Nami. Much to Sanjis confusion and dismay, shrugging we were off following Dalton. The village Alpha told us that the only doctor here is a Witch.

''Didn't you tell us that this Island was infested with doctors?'' Sanji asked beside me, probably to ensure that i don't fall our navigator.

Luckily Dalton came to my rescue and told it was in the past. He told us that this Island really doesn't have a name and they used to call it Drum Island.

We also met a Hiking Bear on our way and gave it a bow in the mountain-climbing manner. This was a relaxing walk, but a tight grip around my neck set me back to reality. Stopping for a second to set the sick orange-haired girl in a more comfortable position on my back i continued the walk towards the village.

Bighorn, that's the village Dalton told us and i saw a bunch of woolly animals there. I could still feel Nami unconscious and was slightly saddened that she didn't see those strange animals. _''Maybe i could draw them in my book''_ Hearing some murmurs going around us, i heard Dalton say that he'll keep an eye on us. Vivi was talking something with the huge man and i looked and saw Daxter poking his head from Usopps bag. He looked around and shrugged where he went back.

Walking to Daltons house and putting Nami in a comfy bed to rest more. I looked around and felt Daltons looking towards me. ''Forgive me for not introducing myself. My name is Dalton. I am this Island's Captain of the Guard. Please excuse our hostile reception''

''Its nothing, its the life of a pirate'' I smiled.

He then looked at Vivi, saying something that he met her somewhere. ''I-I'm sure it's just your imagination!'' And said somethingmore about that Witch doctor. Dalton was about to point at the huge mountain from the window, but a horrible snowman from Luffy blocked it our vision.

''Those mountains are the Drum Rockies. You can see a castle atop the peak of the tallest, central mountain'' Dalton explained and offered us tea after the episode of Luffy and Usopps snowmen.

''I heard something about the old hag'' That got the attention from my crew. ''Wasn't it said that shes what? Over 140 years old and lives on top of that mountain?''

''140 and still breathing! And why does she live all the way up there?'' Sanji shouted while looking at the window.

''How do you know that?'' The Guard asked me and i mentally reprimanded myself about the slip-up.

''I've heard _rumours_ regarding this place. Its said that she visits her patients not the other way around and that contact is out of reach''

''And she's supposed to be a doctor!''

Shrugging, i continued. ''The Witch is exceptional as a doctor, but greedy as hell. Even going as far as to take children as a payment for her to stay young'' I said in a spooky voice, but was corrected by an amused Dalton that she's different from the bunch. The rest i tuned out and sat beside the deeply breathing Nami. She was getting weaker and weaker, where i closed my mind to calm myself and reminded that she'll be fine.

I was snapped from my emo vibes by the sight of Luffy slapping Nami to wake her up. Chuckling, i listened him saying we'll go climb a mountain to see the Witch.

''Are you insane!'' Sanji shouted. ''What are you trying to make Nami-San do!''

I stood up from my chair, rubbing my butt to get it warm from sitting on the chair. ''Easy, we'll carry her, climb the mountain, get the doctor and _voilà_ one healthy navigator to navigate our poor losts souls''

''That will only worsen her condition!'' Vivi also tried to get some sense into us.

''And her lying there waiting for her death will? I'd say we go, we don't know how potent her illness is and for all we could know, she could die by the end of the day'' I said sternly to support my Captains suggestion.

''You got a point there, but not like this! Look how steep and high those slopes are!''

''We can do it'' Luffy plainly said.

''Maybe _you_ guys can, but it'd be too much stress on Nami-San!'' Sanji berated.

''She's a tough girl with guts, she'll manage and if not i'll force her''

''Don't say that its that easy, shitty red-eyes!''

''Because it is!'' I turned to Luffy with a serious expression. ''Luffy, as a Captain, your responsibility is to take risks to lead your crew alive. This is the only way and we might not have much time here'' I know, dramatic and all, but if i say so myself... kinda motivating.

''Yeah! And even if you drop her, there's snow below us!''

''What do you mean i'll carry carry her? You know i'm a frontline figh...'' I was about to continue when a hot warm hand touched grasped mine. I looked down and saw Nami holding my hand weakly with a determined smile. The others were still arguing when Nami managed to say something through the ragged breaths.

''I have to... get better soon'' The room fell silent and we looked at Nami to continue. ''Soon... for Vivi's sake'' She took her other hand and offered it to Luffy while still grasping mine. ''Take care of me''

Giving her also a high-five the Captain grinned. ''You got it! Leave it to us!''

''Ez, i got something for ya!'' Daxter climbed for the bag and walked over to me while getting curious glances from Dalton. ''I made these belts for ye, so as to not fall your girl off'' I frowned at him, but the creature ignored me. ''These are resistant to the climate here and supports a good amount of weight to carry three people''

Grinning at the ottsel i nodded and set Nami on my back with the help of Usopp and Vivi while Daxter gave us instruction how to wear the belt. After the set was done i was pretty sure that this will hold good and just for safety, i asked more of it. Which was given to my bedgruggingly after saying that those cost fortune. Good thing i summoned a pair of clones to escort us in case some beasts attack us.

''Yosh! I'm going too'' Sanji exlaimed and i looked behind me to see him lightening a smoke. ''I have to make sure you don't do anything stupid'' I nodded at him and was also berated by Usopp.

''If you trip and fall even _once_, Nami will die''

''How dumb do you think i am? Maybe in a alternate universe that could've made sense you know''

Vivi was once more testing the durability of the black belts and was amazed. ''You better be amazed!'' Daxter growled at me and Vivi. The belt was made so that Nami felt like i was wearing a light backpak. I kinda miss my own, but gave it to Lisanna saying that she can carry more books with it.

''I think you're ready. I'm going to wait for you here. I'd only slow you down if i came along''

''Me too!'' Vivi and Usopp said to us.

''I'll also stay here. Who knows what kind of crap you'll get yourselves again'' He was silent for a moment. ''Just be careful there''

Nodding, i looked at my clones that couldn't be more excited. ''Boss! C'mon, the doctor might leave anytime soon!''

''Yosha! You better hold tight, Nami. This is going to be a one hell of a day'' Her responce was tightening her grip on me.

Dalton tried to warn us, but Luffy was already off running ahead ''Let's go Ezekiel, Sanji! Quick before Nami dies on us!''

''Oi! Luffy-Taicho (Captain), don't jinx us!'' One of my clones yelled whereas the other one nodded. Dalton asked if i had a Devil Fruit-ability and i just nodded, no need to tell the man these powers actually come from another... anime than this.

The trip to the Witches castle was eventful beside the jibberings of my clones. ''You clone be mad! Dinosaurs are reptiles, they must be cold-blooded!'' The other clone didn't like that.

''Now you listen and you listen good! Birds are on of the closest living relatives to dinosaurs we have and i don't need to tell you that their all warm-blooded!''

''Do you know how difficult it is to maintain thermostates for an animal so large! Their cold-blooded i tell you!''

''Let me tell you something, i have evidence that says that velociraptors had feathers, _feathers_ and what does that tell you?''

''Would you two shut up! Jeez, you guys haven't kept that trap of yours closed the second we left Bighorn!'' I shouted at them. ''Its official, no more clones outside combat and chores! You guys make terrible guards''

''Doesn't that also mean your a terrible guard?'' Sanji inquired while we were still jogging.

''Not really, those two are your regular clones. One hit and it's over, people don't like that'' I said nonchalantly while we dodged something white flying here and there near our heads. ''I could seriously go for a hot cup of tea you know''

''After this we'll feed Nami so much meat that she won't ever be sick again!'' Luffy shouted towards the sky while still dodging the white blur.

''Taicho, that makes as much sense as... as grounded aviation, or deep-sea astronomy, which is none'' A clone of mine runned while picking its nose, which is called now Clone#2

''Did you guys know that its impossible to find two identical snowflakes'' Clone#1 said to change the subject, when we all jumped over a tree that mystically dropped in front of us.

''Really?'' Luffy asked the clone.

''I've heard something about that, but i always thought that it was a myth'' Our cook added his own voice.

''Not really, its true'' I said to them. ''There are several factors that affect the snowflake formation. Temperature, air currents and humidity all influence its shape and size. The possibility of getting dirt and dust particles in it could have major effect on its weight and durability''

''I guess your right and...'' Sanji swung his left leg back and kicked a small... well a huge _normal_ rabbit creature. ''...you're being a real pain in the ass!''

''What was that?'' I asked while looking at the clones looking around.

''The hell do i know, just make sure Nami-San doesn't feel uncomfortable''

I felt her gripping my neck harder and our cheeks were touching. _''She's hot! I meant her bodys hot... well that too, but i meant her temperature, yes, that''_ I could see small white clouds in my vision coming from her breathing. Determined, i began to up my speed.

''Oi! Ezekiel, run gently will ya!''

''Since when do you use my name? What happened with the insults?'' I raised my brow at his direction, but slowed down, a bit. He didn't answer my guestion, so i let it slide.

''Boss, we have company'' And indeed we had. It was the parents/family of the bunny Sanji kicked. ''Talk about bad karma'' My clone side-glared at Sanji.

''What the hell are _these?''_ I heard Sanji say.

''They're big and they're white... must be polar bears!'' Luffy shouted.

''I guess those must be that Lapahn things Dalton told us and a wild guess of my mine would be that their not happy'' Just then one of them made a giant leap at us where we all dodged it. I was being extremely careful and just to be sure i had my Sharingas active to keep up with their movements.

''How can it move like that?''

''Is it a gorilla? No, they're definetely polar bears'' The Captain nodded at himself.

''They're rabbits!'' Me and Sanji shouted at Luffy, but went to deaf ears for my clones.

Cracking his knuckles, my clones smirked. ''I guess todays wabbit season!''

''No! Its duck season!'' Clone#2 shouted back at the first clone.

''Cut it off!'' That shut them and i looked at the carnivorous rabbits and gulped. ''Why are there so many of them?'' There were like the double the amount than in the anime all armed with sharp fangs and claws. ''Guess we got no choice''

When i said that, my two clones immediately got in front of me and one took its tanto while the other the katana.

**[To Be Continued]**

Another fast update and i made this in what? 4 hours? This one goes for the records!

I decided to put some 'explaining' of the techniques Ezekiel uses in the first chapters when i have the time or feel motivated enough to do them. Or you can go to this site - .com/wiki/Narutopedia, but there will be my own variation of it which i will put them at the end of my chapters.

Now, of to break my record of making the next chapter in 3 hours! Unless i get a fight scene.


	19. Conquering Drum Rockies

**Chapter 19: Conquering Drum Rockies.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Drum Island, Ezekiel's POV]

''It's official! Next time someone says something nice about bunnys, i kill 'em!'' I said as i took some distance at the bouncing polar bears as Luffy dubbed them. I couldn't do shit now, since i had my hands supporting Nami who started to mumble about getting soon to Arabasta.

''Here they come!'' Luffy prepared.

''Yeah! Come at me bro!'' My clones shouted holding their both arms in the air.

''Listen Ezekiel!'' Again with my firstname used here by the cook. ''Whatever happens, you can't attack them''

''Gotcha, just provide the support and i'll keep my distance''

''Raaaaaaaah!'' The Lapahn male growled and made a mad dash at me. Ducking low, my Sharingans picked another movement from my right side and i leaped backwards. Thankfully those were dispatched by my katana wielding clone that slashed the rabbits and inflicting those frostbites again.

Looking at the other clone with the tanto, i saw it swung the short sword and slashed dozens of those Lapahn. That only angered the rabbits more and charged us at the same time.

''They're coming all at once!'' Luffy shouted while pounced the closest rabbit.

''Ezekiel! Head into the woods! I'll cover you!'' Didn't need to tell me twice as i runned with my clone flanking me.

''Get out of here! I'll give you some distraction!'' Clone#2 shouted at Sanji, who nodded and ran to Luffy.

''What is he doing?'' Luffy asked me when he reached me.

*Boom!*

There was a sudden explosion where the rabbits gathered around the clone that left us. ''Isn't that the same Magic you used back in Logue Town?'' Luffy inquired.

''Hai, still, it shouldn't have taken that long to detonate itself'' I replied to the the Captain. _''__Bunshin Daibakuha__ or known as Clone Great Explosion. Similar to those normal clones i spawn, but packed with enough Chakra to explode instead vanish in a plume of smoke''_ We kept running and i looked at Nami. _''I'd better not spent too much of the good stuff ''_

''Now left! Head towards the mountain!'' Sanji shouted, breaking my thoughts which i was thankful for since the rabbits proved to be quite the stubborn ones. ''Shit! That didn't work!''

''Boss! Which one? Yama or Triton?''

''Use Triton this time, you'll do more damage with it'' I said to my clone. Triton is actually my tantos new name, because i had to give it one. The name came from one of the moons on Neptunus i liked when staring at its pictures. Planets and Astronomy are one of the few things i liked beside art back in school.

Just then a Lapahn was about to attack me, but my clone slashed it from afar with the stretched sword. Hoisting Nami up once more i resumed my running-towards-the-mountain run.

''Sanji! We've got a path up ahead!''

''Good! Go on then!''

Another of those furry beasts tried to attack me, but i instead used it as a huge trampoline to get over the cliff with the guys and clones following me. Luffy started to dance and showed his tounge at them, angering them further where they made another leap at us.

''Luffy-Taicho! What the hell!'' The remaining clone shouted.

I was slowly getting angry at those furballs. ''Keep running!''

It wasn't till much later that we noticed that the Lapahn's weren't following us anymore. ''Are they still coming?''

''No Boss, it seems we lost them''

I saw Sanji looking behind me. ''No... we didn't'' Looking at the direction he was staring, the furballs took higher ground in the uphill from the front.

''Wow!'' Luffy shouted in amazement, but was confused as the rest of us when they started bouncing up and down. ''What're they doing?'' They were continuing their hopping and i was getting that agitated feeling and resisted the urge to get my butterfly-knife. ''Are they pissed because they're hungry?''

''Well that too Captain, that too...'' I mumbled while still observing the fuzzies behaviour when it hit me. ''They wouldn't...!'' I even saw that Sanji was aware what was going to happen if the cigarette that dropped from his mouth indicated it.

''They're really doing it... those shitty rabbits!''

Luffy turned to us. ''Oi, Ezekiel, Sanji. What's wrong?''

''Yeah, Boss. What's going on?''

''Everyone run! It doesn't matter where, but get the hell out! They're causing an avalanche!'' My shout of warning came too late as the descending giant pile of snow was heading our way. So, as any wise and self-conscious human beings and clone, we ran back down.

''Those shitty rabbits! They're really gonna get it now, dammit!'' I heard Sanji shout in equal panic as my clone who was by now crying.

''W-W-What do we do?'' Luffy stuttered and i didn't blame the guy. ''W-What are wo gonna do, Sanji? Ezekiel?''

''Running would be a good start!'' My clone shouted behind me.

''In any case, Nami-San comes first! Second: Nami-San! Third: Nami-San! Fourth: Nami-San!''

''Got it! And just in case, Nami also comes as fifth'' I shouted my affirmative to Sanji.

Despite being chased by a effing avalanche he turned to me with a glare. ''Whatever happens, protect her with you life!''

''I already promised that to her sister so i got this!'' I was getting desperate when i saw a cliff up ahead. ''There! Let's get on that cliff!'' It was straight in out right side, so we had to speed up. Jumping high with the other following to the cliff, we made on top of it.

''Yes! We made it in ti-'' But the Captain was cut short when the snowy version of Tsunami was about to hit us.

''It's not high enough! We're gonna die!'' The clone was about to pass out, but regained its composure and looked fiercly at the avalanche when it was about to hit us. He ran at me and exposed my wristband with the ink scribbles and sealed the weapons inside where he threw me high in the air with Luffy following. Sanji though didn't make it and i began to look around to see our cook.

Spotting a fallen tree, me and Luffy boarded and began to surf on top of the avalanche. I saw Luffy stretch his hand and grabbed Sanji's where he pulled him up.

''At least were not buried in snow, but were definitely going further from the moutain'' I heard Sanji growl and i looked back and it indeed was true.

''Just when we were close! Ezekiel! Think of some way to stop this thing!''

''What do you think i'm doing this whole time? Thinking about snowboarding bunnies!'' I shouted back at the former Assistant Chef and saw something that made me want to eat my tounge. ''Speak of the devil'' Seeing those stupid fuzzies snowboarding at us where they began their barrage of slashes and bites, which one of them was too close for comfort biting Nami's head off.

As we continued to dodge, Sanji shouted something being in front of us. Looking over Luffy's shoulder there was a giant rock jutting under the avalanche. The damned thing was right in our course and we were personally lead there by those Lapahns.

''We're about to crash!''

''We can't afford that! Nami-San's on your freakin' back!'' Sanji shouted back at me and i was starting to think that this is it, when a sudden weight lifted me and threw me away. Looking at it, it was Sanji, who was also threw Sanji in my direction. ''You have to treat ladies with care''

''Sanji!'' Luffy also shouted when the tree we ride was destroyed from the force of the collision and the cook was buried under the snow with the bunnies. I saw Luffys outstreched hand wrap around me and Nami and threw me even further when we both saw that the safe spot was too far away. ''Take care of her!''

''Dammit! This is not the time!'' I shouted back and saw that me and Nami were both safe away from the avalanche in another higher cliff. Seeing them both buried there i gritted my teeth in frustation. ''God-fucking-dammit, those guys. Now isn't time to act selfish''

My shouts went to deaf ears and it took awhile for the avalanche to stop. Grunting, i set Nami down and wrapped her in my jacket. ''You don't look good'' I began to look around where the guys might've been buried. ''I'll be right back with you before you know it'' Wrapping my scarf around Nami's neck, i summoned 5 regular clones to search the place and told one to stay with her. ''Those furballs are unpredictable''

It wasn't till much later when we found the unconscious Sanji where Luffy was about to join him. I began slapping him to keep him awake, but proved to be futile as my hands were frozen from the digging. ''Ezekiel... tell Sanji... to prepare a feast... when i wake up'' That said, he was out like a light.

''What the hell, what the hell... this wasn't supposed to happen. It was you who should have carried those two not me''

''What now Boss?'' I looked at the 4 clones looking at me with worry.

''This is going to be a looong day that's for damn sure. Help me out here will ya, i need to carry all of them''

''You sure, you don't need our help?''

''Nah, i manage somehow. Just cover me when were being ambushed, this is going way beyond extreme'' Dragging the two guys back to Nami that was accompanied by one of my clone. Setting Nami so that i carried piggybacking so that she was mostly in my right side of my back. ''I better thank Dax about these extra belts, their a life saver... literally'' It really was, i somehow got Sanji slung over my shoulder without disturbing Nami and the belts were somehow strapped to him that i don't have to worry about him falling. ''Though he will get some bruises'' Luffy was the difficult one as i had to use him as a weird human rubber belt around my waist and his trademark straw hat now in my head. It might've looked provocative in some countries how Luffy was close to my crothch, but right now i couldn't give a damn about it.

All in all, i _can_ use my hands but decided to save some Chakra for climbing with the extra carriage. _''Worst case scenario: my ass gets ambushed by a pair of freaks''_

''You better license that style lest someone robs it from you'' The witty comment of my clone made its presence where we shut it with glare from each of... me. Awkwardly putting the belts on Luffy, me and my replicas made our way to the huge ass mountain.

Trudging unceremoniously with the surprisingly quite clones, i heard a small whine. Looking at the source i narrowed my eyes, but still continued my walk. It was the hungry little fuzzball that tried to take a chomp from us back when we began our trek to the mountain. Lovebite, as i like to call it now, started to growl when we were aproaching it.

Nodding to my clone, that gave a nod back, started to pull out the snow buried parent of Lovebite. I could feel that they used a decent amount of Chakra to pull the damn thing out, since they were designed for intelligence purpose. _''I could've pull the stuffed bunny out myself anyday'' _I boated to myself.

Not paying any heed to its cries of joy, i resumed my path to the Witches castle. ''Don't worry guys... i'll get ya'll there and after that we'll have a big party. Sanji will make those tasty meat while me and Luffy will have a meat eating contest and Nami... I guess the drinks would be on me''

''Boss, we have company'' A clone of mine warned when it turned back.

''Wait, brat!'' Also turning around i saw Wapol and his flunkies riding a furry hippo thing. ''You've brought so many humiliations upon me! I'm gonna make you pay!'' Following them, they turned just in front of us and glared at us, which i bedgrugginly returned since this was no time nor place to settle some argument.

_''Fuck it! I don't have time for this!'' _I berated myself and was now more than aware of the seriousness of this situation. ''Move'' As that word escaped my mouth, my clones instantly went in front of me. 3 took the front while the other 2 flanked me.

''What is that? Another Devil Fruit-user'' Chess, the green jester that we saw 'standing' on the ocean said, but was ignored by Wapol.

''Why the hell should i move? The girl and those two guys you carry look dead already'' I blatantly ignored them and moved aside them with the clones following and staring at them. Suddenly there was two people running at me, probably those flunkies of Wapol, turning around i saw that they were about to attack Sanji and Nami. Stopping, i saw my two clones block their attacks and the other two clones gave them a vicious kick that sent them back to Wapol.

''Boss! We got this, take the others to the old hag!''

_''Maybe i should consider summoning those guys more often''_ That in mind, i started to run now towards the mountain with one clone with me. We managed to get some distance between the two of us when a memory of them came, being decimated by the two flunkies and Wapol himself. The clones didn't have much Chakra on them and i wasn't suprised them lasting long, but what suprised me was the Lapahns that also joined the fight. _''My enemy is the enemy of my other enemy''_

After that scenario with the Wapol, Clones and Bunnies. Me and my clone were shivering when the wind started to pick up. ''Goddamn snow, Goddamn mountains with a Goddamn castle that houses a Goddamn Witch with a Goddamn doctors degree...'' I kept mumbling something along that way and Luffy passing out on me. ''Technically snow _is_ water solidified so it might've have something to do with the Devil Fruits... i don't know''

''You might be right, Boss'' The clone agreed with me and i felt a tad bit wiser.

We finally got in front of the huge mountain and i could swear that just seeing the damn thing made me feel like i'm carrying six people instead of three.

''Good, i'm not late yet...'' Another clone of mine said. Turning around, it was the clone that i had with me before the avalanche. ''Surprised? Me too. Didn't know i'd survive the damned thing''

I felt relief escape my mouth with a sigh, but i knew it isn't over yet. ''Okey, here's the plan. You two will walk along this mountain with Chakra laced to your feet. Take the swords in my wrist-seal and start jamming holes in it for me to climb''

''You don't want us to help you carry them?'' Clone#1 said, the one that survived the avalanche.

''I can't take the risk of you guys dispelling while were up there, so its only logical that i do it and you help me out with that'' It was true, i'd rather not take any risk and those two don't have much Chakra left to do that.

''Fine...'' They both said at the same time.

Walking towards the front of the mountain, i glared furiously at it with the Sharingans activating themselves. ''Your just like them...'' Flashbacks of the bullying that the people back home did to me. ''Always towering me, looking down at me, Constantly _judging_ me! I'll show you, just like i showed them all! No one and i mean no one looks at me that way!'' I shouted at the mountain and checked once more that i had the guys secured. After giving the clones the swords, i took my first climbs and it was brutal until the holes that the clones dugged helped me.

[Two hours later]

It felt like i was climbing about two hours and i was right. It was really two hours and my hands and feet were painting the mountain red. I didn't even register till now that my shoes fell somewhere along the way.

''How you holding Boss!'' Clone#2 shouted from afar while still digging the holes.

''Fine! Just get going and don't look down! I don't want any memories about the altitudehere, so face forward!'' I took a moment to gather myself and felt that my skin was peeling itself off from the coldness. ''Hang in there guys, i made my promise and i sure as hell will keep it!'' With new found resolve, i forced myself to keep going up.

[Another hour later]

''I can see the top somehow, these holes sure as hell do help. Those clones better not break the swords, their maintainance is going to cost me fortune'' I said that to get my mind off from the pain i currently felt. Blood was running down my hands and feet. I looked at the holes and saw that they weren't as cleared as the previous ones. ''They must be tired too'' I could feel my left eye tingling and it hurt like hell, where once i had to climb with my right eye open.

Keeping my eyes forward, i looked at the condition of my nakamas. Sanji i had to move a bit, since i felt Nami's muscle tense on my back. It wasn't difficult seeing as the clones had to walk back to help me. Luffy was the most troblesome of the lot. _''I swear, rubber and cold air don't go hand in hand''_ I had to be careful not to break the Captains limbs after setting him more comfortable position in my waist. _''Ezekiel, remember. Bromance is not gay'' _I berated myself once more.

''Goddammit, Earth's gravity shouldn't be this high for a planet this size. It's only this way because theres so many metals in the core increasing its overall density... oh fuck'' That's how i usually say when in a dire situation and this was no different. ''After this, i pray i'll get some sleep. I can practically taste how tired i am''

Shaking my head to get rid of the memory that my clone just popped, leaving the other one to continue stabbing the mountain itself. _''They must've used Chakra to infuse the swords to cut more. That surely explains the crap work of these holes and that they should have lasted a bit longer''_

''Boss! I can see the top!''

''Good, keep going and leave the swords there and i'll pick 'em up'' I couldn't see it, but i did hear more metal sounds around stabbing the mountain faster. ''If you guys die on me, i swear. I'm going to drag you back from hell only to kill you three myself. After that, i'll have so much sleep and pizza that would put even you in shame, Luffy'' Chuckling, i got another memory from my clone that popped again. This time though, i had to stay still and grab the holes so hard i could feel the blood oozing from it. ''Damn bastard looked down... fuck, i am so high. Guess thats what Chad Kroeger must've felt''

I heard a groan of pain escape from Sanji and chuckled.

''You know, the Nickelback singer/guitarist'' I looked up and climbed more. ''I shouldn't laugh anymore, its not good for my ribs that i might've broken'' Well it felt like i broke a rib or two and those jagged holes that were puncturing my palm weren't inviting.

[Nearly on top]

''Yes! Hang on guys! I can see it the top! We made it!'' I tried to cheed, but sounded more like a pitying whining on my part from the lack of oxygen, blood lost and Chakra exhaustion. _''God, i hate Chakra exhaustion. Not only could it kill me, but hurts like hell and i'll get thirsty from it''_

Taking few more pulls, i felt snow touching my palm. Looking at the snow that i colored crimson i felt more determined and proud than ever.

''Doc...tor...'' I even felt that my conscious was leaving me, but i couldn't give up. Not now of all times. Finally, touching the top that was cold but still welcoming i pulled myself up and saw my swords there with Luffys straw hat. Picking that up and setting it in my head, i saw something big, furry, human-shaped man with a pink hat that had a white X-mark in the middle. Walking up to it, i finally lost my balance and dropped on my knees where the big man walked over to me. ''Please... i... the girl... my nakamas... sick.. doctor...'' Those were my words when i looked at the man in the eye and could've swear he took a step back after the eye contact.

The rest was just blurry vision as the fatigue dragged me towards unconscious which i welcomed and manage to smile at the man with the blue nose and weird hat. ''What weird eyes...''

**[To Be Continue]**

I though making this about 8k long chapter, but decided against it since i want as many chapters as possible. However, i already begun the next chapter and it should be around the corner and no.

I didn't break my record today... i know, its the end of the world.

Next one is much trickier than i thought because i'm deciding that should i get Ezekiel into a coma like in the Laboon arc or just wake the guy up after the Wapol fight... choices, choices...

That's all you need and will know for now... and just for a minor spoiler... anyone notice that their **one** day earlier than they should be in canon? What's with that? ;)

Remember to review and the like...


	20. Meet Chopper, not 'Meat' Chopper

**Chapter 20: Meet Chopper, not 'Meat' Chopper.**

**Behold! I changed the title, because i had the power to do so and did. Yes, i know, a bad name for the story title and the chapters.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Ezekiel's Mindscape, Ezekiel's POV]

''Not this again...'' I grumbled seeing the same room that was supposed to represent my mind. ''I better wake up soon or i'll totally miss the next arc''

''Why such hurry?'' A voice spoke behind me and i didn't have time to turn around when an all to familiar katana spirit hugged me from behind. ''You promised to visit us''

''Yes i did, but last time...'' Something clicked in my head. ''Us?''

''I'm here Master'' Turning my head even more and moving the strands of hair that Yama slung over my face, i saw a... midget.

''Uhm... Hi short stuff'' The odd room was silent, but effectively broken by a girlish giggle. Looking closer at the shrunken mindscape illusion that wore baggy golden haarempants that had some weird tribal marks on it with bandaged on its ankles and waist that obscured his navel. The thing was levitating in a meditative position and wore nothing on top. Walking up to it, i saw it had those golden hawk-like eyes Mihawk likes to show off. The oddest thing was that it had brown hair and tanned skin like those in middle east which looked kinda cool.

I saw a tick mark on its head with a twitching brow and i though it was about to yell, but held himself from bursting at me. ''No Master, i am what you call Triton and i'm here to serve you''

''The fu...'' I was about to ask Yama who waved her handsin front of her with sweat bullets going down her pale face.

''Don't look at me like that. I don't know who he is, he just popped up here like you and me''

Shrugging i went over to him. ''Hi, my name is...''

''...Ezekiel Vane'' The levitating short cake interrupted me.

''And were in...''

''...your mindscape'' I was beginning to get irritated.

''Do you know what...''

''...those 'scribbles' in those walls mean, no, i do not''

''You also do know...''

''...That me interrupting Master is inappropriate, forgive me'' I was studying the guy and he has that weird accent in his voice... don't know, don't care.

''What's with the Master stuff?''

He looked at me weirdly from my comment. ''I am but a sword for you to wield and as such are my Master''

''You don't have to call me that'' I pointed at Yama rubbing her cheek against mine. ''She doesn't and i'm cool with her''

''We're more than cool'' She now setted me down towards the ground and forcefully made me sit with her hands over my shoulder and something soft in the back of my head.

''I guess we are'' I wasn't really sure if we were. The weird woman acts like a 12-year-old with a massive sugar rush.

Triton was just ignoring us and levitated towards ground level with us. ''I'm sure you have some guestions''

''I have a fuck-loads of guestions, little footprint! First! How did i get here?''

''Do you mean here in your mindscape?'' Yama asked and was massaging my shoulders.

''For that answer, Master has to speak with the higher ups''

I was confused. ''The higher what?''

''I'm afraid i can't talk about it''

I deadpanned at him. ''Figured as much, but you can tell me about those orbs right? The thing that happens to be stuck in my left arm by now''

''What color was it?''

''Uhm... dark purple?''

His eyes widened at that. ''How much did you take?''

''One, i guess. Unless someone somehow forced it down on me''

Triton sighed in relief. ''Good, and what i gathered from her'' He pointed at Yama that played with my hair and made a mental note to cut it a bit shorter. ''Told me that you have an exceptional willpower, so no need to worry about you transforming what you call 'Demon' without a will to back it up''

The female of my empty bachelor mind room perked up at that. ''Uh-huh. I saw you climb that huge mountain carrying three people! I was amazed!''

''As i expected from Master'' Triton bowed at my direction with a deep nod.

''Okay... back to the subject, please''

He made another bow, but this one was quicker. ''Forgive me, what i was about to tell you about them is that their not throughly evil. . It mostly depends on the users actual willpower to draw its energy, instead of the corrupted Energy'' He seemed to think something more, something that he might've forgotten and i have to learn it the hard way. ''The orb is fully dependent on its user to survive as your host''

''So that was those voices i kept hearing and Chakra also belongs in that Energy department'' He nodded and i continued. ''So all i need to do is work on my willpower and i can use that thing to protect my comrades'' Another nod came from that. ''What's the whole point of me being here? An hour here and its already been 4-7 days, if not more. What's with that?''

Apparently, Yama felt my agitation and held me still so she can play with my hair. ''That was just me searching your memories, it wasn't supposed to happen, so sorry about that. Won't happen again'' Triton had the decency to blush in embarrasement and scratch his head.

''So you both like know everything about me?'' They both nodded. ''I won't be in a coma now for few days''

''Yes, but if you happen to absorb more of those orbs without backing it up. They will consume you and you will either sleep for long days or die from it'' He was bring serious for the first time and i weakly nodded. ''Nonetheless, there should be more instructions for you in those walls. I am merely your 'Magic' sword''

''You could've told me that earlier you know'' He just shurugged and i sighed at that. ''Fine, when will i wake up?''

''Don't tell me you want to leave us already?'' Yama now appeared in front of my face with a pout. ''He doesn't make a great converstation company and isn't tall'' She was still in front of me with her finger in her chin with a thinking pose. ''Did i tell you i like tall men?''

''Nooo... you didn't''

She started to shriek and jump up and down with her arms flailing. ''Well now you do! I like tall men with strong backs'' I sweatdropped at her antics, but found them to be extremely humoring and fun. We would've made great friends back home. ''Look i need favor''

I raised my eyebrow at her. She wasn't her usual self and Triton was looking at us with mild amusement whilst levitating. ''Shoot''

''Can you do my maintanance, you know, sharpen the sword i live in... sometimes''

''That's it?''

Now i startled her. ''What do you mean?''

''I though you wanted a bigger favor. That wasn't really what i would've called a favor, you could have just asked me and it'll be done''

I saw her smile the biggest smile she's yet shown and glomped on me. Looking at the meditating Triton who looked away i grinned at him. ''Looks like i made her day, week or month depending how much i've been sleeping now''

The short guy just waved his hand and brought out a clock that was floating in front my face. ''Approximately 6 hours now and your friends slowly woke up chasing the poor raccoon-like reindeer thing''

Shrugging i turned to them. ''So this means i can always enter and leave without sleeping for days?'' They both nodded at me with a smile. ''I'll keep that promise Yama-Chan and Triton?''

''Yes Master?''

''How old are you? A midget like you should be atleast 14-years-old''

He got a tick mark on his forehead and a giggle directed at him from Yama. ''I'm over hundred-years-old you dick!'' The room fell silent and Triton began tor realise what he said. ''I'm so sor...''

I managed to cut him off. ''I knew i can make you say dick!'' Laughing, i vanished from my mindscape with a weird door appearing before me. ''See ya'll soon! Yama-Chan! Triton-Kun!''

[Drum Castle, Recovery Room, Ezekiel's POV]

''Meeeeat!'' I heard Luffy shout from all over the castle while opening my eyes. Swinging my legs over the bed, i saw that my arms, feet and torso were covered in bandages. But what worried me was that my left eye was also wrapped in bandages. I was wearing my grey pants and saw regular shoes near the other guys empty beds.

Putting those in my legs while wincing from the pain in my feet, i walked towards the room where the noises came but not before looking myself at the mirror. ''Man, i look like shit'' I was shirtless and there could be seen some vicious burn marks that i thought were the frostbites. Rubbing my left eye, i sighed in relief that they didn't pluck my eye out to study them.

Retrieving my wristband that contained my weapons and took my winter coat on, i did some light stretches while walking where i thought was Nami's recuperation room.

After some more minutes of walking i came across an intresting sight. Our future nakama, Chopper, was standing in front of me with a fearful expression. I remembered him being just a kid that had somewhat similar past like mine, only worse, so i could sympathise with him. We both stood there, when i gave him a friendly smile.

''So your the one that saved me and my nakamas'' It was more like a converstation beginning statement. I gave him his time to decide to talk to me or not, since he obviously doesn't like humans. Though, all i got from him was a nod with an uncertain look. ''I deeply appreciate your treatment to my nakamas'' Bowing to the little guys from two steps away i continued. ''I'm in your dept''

Looking at Chopper again i saw the reindeer hybrid dance its weird dance with a joyful smile. ''I don't need anything from humans like you'' He then went angry at me. ''I'm not happy at all!''

_''Oh yeah, he can't take compliments, but i could have my harmless fun with him''_ Activating my visible Sharingan i crouched down in front of him. ''What makes you think i'm a human?'' I saw he was propably fascinated with the Doujutsu i displayed and was about to touch it with his hoofs. ''Na-ah, these things aren't something to be trifled with'' I reprimanded him like one would a child that got caught staling a cookie from a cookie jar.

''Amazing, i've never read about those. What are they?'' He completely forgot about our situation until it dawned back to him. ''Forget it! I don't need to study humans'' He stated firmly, but i expected that and slowly stood up.

''A pity really, you won't find any of these anywhere in the world'' I saw i got him to hesitate for a moment and maybe i could make him open up to me bit. ''One time opportunity to study the eyes that has been said to hold... _knowledge_'' The last part was said in whisper, but i was sure he heard that. _''Hook, Line and Sinker!''_ And to make it a little tough for him, i was about to walk away.

''Wait! You said you owe me something'' Resuming my position to crouch in his eye level, but this time it was me who aproached and saw he wasn't hesitating as much as before. ''As a payment, i want to study your eye'' Chopper said and stood firmly in front of me.

We both were silent for a moment when i grinned at him. ''Since when do doctors demand their patients?'' I managed to let out a dramatic gasp. ''Don't tell me your abusing your duty as a doctor! Unheard of!'' Adding insult to injury, i pretended to faint. ''Never have i seen so selfish doctor that takes advantage of his or hers patient weakness at a time like this''

I saw from the corner of my eye that he was about to panic. ''No! I mean, i want to, but... argh!'' The poor kid gripped his hat with his hoofs and i chuckled at him. ''Huh?'' At least i made some progress this fast, he didn't flinch when i tapped his big hat.

''Tell you what. I'll let you study them on one... two conditions'' Seeing him nod, i knew i can get him out of his shell.

[Nami's Recuperation Room, Ezekiel's POV]

I was about to walk into the room when i heard Sanji say the O-word ( Old ) to Dr. Kureha and saw him face plant into nearby wall. ''Considering every retarded things you guys 'normally' do, this one goes for the records'' I walked into the room and saw the different reactions from everyone.

''Ezekiel!'' ''Ezek-Kun!'' ''Brat'' The last one came from the good doctor and laughed a bit.

''How you guys been?'' At that moment Luffy ran at me and stood in front of my face.

''Did you really climb the mountain with us holding you back?'' The Captain was pitying himself from his weakness and i knew the right medicine to get him out of his bad vibes. ''I am so...''

*Bam!*

A good fist to the head with an irritated look. ''You couldn't foresee what happened and its in the past'' I looked at Sanji who kept looking away from me. ''I'm okey and that's all history needs to remember'' Still the cook didn't say anything and just nodded at my direction. ''And how did your treatment go?'' I asked Nami, but this time with a smile. What confused me was that i didn't get a reply, but they stared at the furry creature sitting on my shoulders that was grabbing onto my hair with his hoofs.

''Chopper?'' Kureha said in amazement, probably because Chopper usually avoids humans like the plague itself.

''Meeeat!'' Again Luffys warcry that was also joined by Sanji. Sighing, i opened the bandages in my left eye and looked them both in the eye with the three tomoes left Sharingan that i was noted by Chopper. It didn't take much effort on my part to force a weak illusion on them to run past me still shouting meat all over the castle. Rubbing my left eye again to get rid of the stingy feeling in it, we looked back at the two guys running away.

''Get back here reindeer!'' Sanji still shouted from afar and i chuckled at that.

''Sugoi! That was so cool!''

''Thank you, Tony-Kun'' We already made our presentation in the hallway and the reindeer hybrid was just your average kid with a serious kicks into books. Grabbing a chair that Luffy occupied minutes ago, i dragged it next to Nami and smiled at her. ''I presume your doing well?'' I took Chopper from my shoulder and setted it in the floor. ''Why don't you go and get the notebooks. Don't worry about the others, they're actually chasing a... mirage, if you will''

That seemingly got his attention and smiled at me. ''Hai, Ezekiel-San!'' Smiling at our future nakama-to-be, i saw him ran where his work room was, i think. I briefly saw that the guys were still chasing something that i guessed was invisible to the others, but was actually Chopper wrapped in bacon until the Witch had enough of them and started to chase them with swords.

''Just wait, Nami-San! I'll make you that fine venison dish to lift your spirits!' Sanji shouted from everywhere, when Nami sighed at them.

''I don't care about the food; just let me get some rest'' The navigator mumbled. I stood up and felt that she was staring at my back. Probably to say something i'll never find out, but didn't when i shut the door the guys barged out of and walked back.

''You still haven't answered my guestion, Nami''

''I'm doing fine... better actually, so we can leave in a moment when you're ready''

''You still have a fever'' Chopper said firmly with his medical kit with him, when Nami started to protest that she's fine. They both got into an small argument of sorts while i watched them with barely restrained laughter.

''You heard the doctor, so there's no point getting out of the bed yet. Sides, you got me as a bed-time company here'' Another playful teasing from me, but the increased redness on her face made me grin. ''Get you mind out of the gutter Nami. Your sister was right about one thing''

The blush on her face was mistook as a sign of fever from Chopper who took another diagnosis from her. Nami tried to thank him, but was shot down by Chopper saying he doesn't accept gratitude from humans.

''You seem to be close to him'' Nami pointed at me, which Chopper answered that i'm different from the rest of the humans his seen and i was flattered. After that short time insanity was over, he turned to me and opened the bandages on my left eye while he stood on my lap.

''Ezek-Kun, what happened to your eye!'' The worry was written on her face, or that's as much i could get with the Sharingans on.

''Remember when i told that i'd get one of those 'tomoes' every once in awhile'' After her nod i smiled. ''Well i got one alright and its extremely painful if exposed for too long'' Yes it hurts like hell, because the eye is oversensitive as hell now and its burning. Thankfully Chopper took the hint and covered it to perhaps study it later on.

Sitting down on my lap, he looked at Nami. ''You guys are pirates?'' Me and Nami nodded at him. ''Real ones?''

''As real as it gets'' I tapped his hat and just as i expected, it was silk. A little worn out, but good to go.

''Do you have a skull and crossbones flag?''

Nami beat me from answering that guestion. ''Right on our ship. Ezek-Kun can draw one for you, right?'' I nodded and took the notebook and the pencil from Chopper where i drew our skull flag with the trademark straw hat. ''Intrested in pirates?''

That triggered something in Chopper and ran behide the chair i was sitting away fom Nami. ''No! Idiot! No way!'' And threw a bunch of profanities at Nami.

''Alright, alright, sorry, sorry'' She gripped her head, but still managed to smile at the scared reindeer. 'But, if that's so... would you like to come with us?''

''Aaaaaah!'' Now Chopper ran to the bookshelfs. ''To the sea?''

''Yeah. It'll be fun. I'll let you play with my eyes more if you do'' I grinned at him.

''That's how you got him to warm up to you?'' Nami gave me a light stare from her bed which i replied by showing my tounge in a playful manner as usual. Turning back to the scared Chopper, she smiled again at him. ''It'd be a big help to me. If we have a doctor on board, i won't have to stay here for three days. Also, our ship doesn't have-''

''D-Don't be stupid!'' Nami was interrupted by Choppers shout of outrage. ''I'm a reindeer, y'know? Why the _hell_ would i go with you humans!''

We were silent for a short time with Nami when i decided to break it. ''I have these freak eyes and they still let me walk on their ship''

I got the reindeers attention and he looked at me wide-eyed. ''Their not scared of you?''

''Nope, they're cool with it which i appreciate highly''

''But... i'm a reindeer, i can walk and talk...''

A orange something came to my mind and i grinned. ''We have an ottsel that can also walk and talk like you, but the guy has a big mouth so be warned''

''...and my nose is blue''

''The ottsel has a tail and is half your size. Besides, i can-''

''So this is where you were! Reindeer!'' Luffy interrupted me this time and started chasing Chopper.

''Come back here!''

''Seems like the Genjutsu wore off..'' I muttered when Kureha came out of nowhere and sat into the same chair she used before chasing the guys.

''You really did a number on your body, brat''

''Come again?'' I asked the doctor.

She looked at me with a hint of mock disdain i could pick up from her face. ''Tell me, do you sleep much?''

I was about to answer when our navigator beat me to it. ''Yes, he has trouble sleeping at nights and we're worried about his health ever since he told us''

_''So they did talk about me''_ A smile appeared in my face and i looked at the doctor that was studying me. ''Insomnia''

She made that Witch laughter of hers and shuked down the bottle of wine down her throat with a satisfied sigh. ''Figured as much. Your organs are strained quite a bit and i'm surprised your even awake now much less alive''

''Your not the first one to say that'' I deadpanned at her. ''I don't see it as a burden, but something part of me so curing it would make me depressed... or angry depending on the mood, but definetely depressed''

She kept studying me until she stood up and held her finger in my forehead. ''You want to know the secret to my youth?''

''Not really, i've always wanted to die like my Grandpa told me. Kicking and screaming like the guy next to him'' That may have been the reason why the room fell silent and i scrathed the back of my head. Nami gave me a look of uncertainty while the doctor just laughed at me.

''You certainly got some humor in you, brat'' The doctor took another sip of her wine bottle. ''I'm more intrested in those eyes of yours. There's something about them that i need to know''

I just grinned at her. ''Sorry, Tony-Kun already called dibs on them''

She just laughed at that again and took another huge sip of the bottle. I was beginning to wonder if that's a habit of hers before asking a guestion. ''I'm sure you can ask another guestion of mine'' Nodding she sighed. ''How come Chopper is so fond of you? He rarely acts like that''

''Does he now?'' I made a sarcastic reply and looked at the ceiling with a sad smile fow awhile. ''I guess it truly takes two identical souls to truly understand each other, don't you think?''

''Since when were you so poetic?'' Nami asked me after a few moments of silence.

I just shrugged and looked down at the tea i forgot to drink. The stuff was by now cold, which reminded me of the summer few years back when me and Karen made some horrible strawberry ice tea for the two of us. Fortunaly for me, my train of thoughts were broken by Nami pinching my cheek. ''Would you cut it off, it hurts''

She let go of my cheek, not before giving me that cute glare of hers. ''Doctorine is about to tell us more about Tony-Kun''

Blinking, i looked at the amused doctor who sniggered and told us about Choppers past. The little guy had it hard, real hard. I atleast didn't get shot at, but i did nearly get stabbed which thankfully came from a mob of drunked rednecks where i succesfully ran away. So yeah, my favorite reindeer was shunned by his herd and humans alike, but i wasn't going to pity him. No one gave me one back then and sure and i sure as hell won't give any back.

''He didn't understand what he did wrong. He didn't even know who to hate. He only wanted some nakama, but was branded as a monster. He was no longer a reindeer and neither was he a human. So he lived all alone, in total solitude'' I could tell her voice was sad and that the reindeer also ment much to her. She then turned to me. ''Can you fill the void in his heart?''

''Honestly?'' Seeing as i got her full attention i continued. ''I'm sure we'll manage to fix it and if not, we have Luffy. The guy touches peoples heart and changes them without him knowing about it'' I made a small smile. ''I bet the guy is trying to do that now as we speak'' We heard Choppers yell and Luffys screams of laughter all over the castle. ''I also think he's trying to get him as our nakama''

Smelling some delicious aroma around us, i saw Sanji coming from the kitchen with a tray of food towards us. ''In order to help you regain your health, Nami-San, i've prepared an extra speacial meal for your enjoyment'' He then looked at me and sighed. ''I also prepared something for you, here'' He also gave me the same dish he offered Nami and i was taken aback, where i looked at him with a raised brow. ''You need to regain your strenght too'' Knowing that he was about to say more, i kept my mouth shut. ''And thanks''

Ignoring him and eating my food while listening the converstation with him and Nami while eating my grub. ''You're an idiot, you know that'' That shut him up and he turned to me. ''The hell your thanking me for anyways?'' I said still munching the tasty food and swallowed it and pointed my fork at him. ''By now you should know we're nakamas and that we look at each others backs... or carry them in our backs, but that's beside the point'' Seeing as i didn't make any progress i also sighed as he did mere minutes ago. ''I'd carry all of you again if i had to and i'll expect similar treatment in exchange going around our little ship... even if there would be flock of naked women surrounding you'' The last part was a mutter and i was sure he heard it, but he kept his mouth shut about it.

''Unbelievable. When did you decide you could use the kitchen?'' The Witch doctor said from the door that Sanji passed moments ago.

''Madam, the roast there is high in protein and will rejuvenate-!'' Our cook would've continued if it weren't for the fact that he called her madam.

*Bam!*

After the well placed kick at Sanji's abdominal area, i quickly took the dishes he was about to drop and put them in front of Nami. ''I am not a 'madam'. I am an unwed flower. Still too young, far too young'' Doctorine exclaimed.

''139, right?'' Me and Nami said at the same time and looked at each other with a grin.

She raised her brow at that. ''You two don't happen to be-'' Another divine interference, because i knew where she was going with that and i wasn't too keen on answering that. Looking at the source of the 'interruptor', it was Chopper being chased by an over enthusiast Luffy

''Doctorine! Ezekiel-San! Save me!''

''Hold up! Oi, wait, wait!''

They both ran past us when Chopper ran into a cellars door, with Luffy slamming his head into the closed cellar door. Few seconds later, we saw the same reindeer ran back from there and hide behind my leg. I was surprised, since i didn't expect him to open up me that fast.

''I've got ya cornered!

''What are you doing?'' I heard Nami ask Luffy who was circling around me with our future ships doctor.

''This guy's gonna be our nakama'' The Captain grinned.

''I never agreed to that!''

''Did too!''

''Did not!''

''Please refrain from doing that, it makes me dizzy'' They also went to Doctorine and bugged her this time.

''Nakama, eh? You have no idea how deep a meaning that word holds for him'' She looked at us and i saw that Sanji recovered from her earlier kick and was now listening to her. ''He lived alone. But, there was one man he once opened his heart to. His name was Dr. Hiluluk'' And so began the story of the crazy hoot who called himself a doctor, but sides that was a good-hearted crazy man. The man saw Chopper as his son and 'taught' him everything he knew until his death at his own hands.

The Witch took another swig from her bottle and looked at us once more. ''Happiness is a brief thing and it comes time to say good-bye. No matter what kind of human you are''

I think i remember how the rest goes on and stood up with a sandwich Sanji made. ''The pain of losing something important, right? I think we all been through that at least once'' Walking towards the door, i opened it and closed it just as fast all the while letting a small sigh. ''He surely is something else... that troublesome raccoon'' Keeping my walk inside the cold castle and wrapping my coat closer to my skin whilst rubbing myself to keep the heat. Just then i hear some chirping noises that sounded quite weak for my hearing.

Checking them out, i saw they were few days old hatchlings starving, so no solid food and bread crumbles for them. I remember that one time back in biology class that the mother of those baby birdies must progress the food in their mouth/peck.

''You do know that's nasty'' I tried to converse with the birdies that kept chirping at me hungrily at the sandwich i was holding. Sighing, i took a bite of my sandwich and began to munch it. ''Don't worry about me, i've done enough... weird stuff today if you will, so i'll peg these as one of them'' And of course, my reply was another chirping noises that reminded me of my problem with the Chidori. ''I could work on that seal-less One Thousand Birds Jutsu, it'll save me a hell of a lot time, ne?''

Climbing up to them and setting my head forward for them to barge into my mouth to eat the mush i made. Resisting the urge to gag and remind myself that i'm practically saving lives here. _''I bet this looks like i'm trying to eat the poor creatures''_

The birds stopped eating and i noticed that there wasn't much left and began to chirp at me. Spitting the leftovers whilst looking around that Sanji didn't see that, i looked back at the birdies who silently gazed at the front yard. ''You see something?'' Narrowing my visible eye, there was a glimpse of _four_ humans and a woolly hippo. ''I'll get you somewhere safe, i promise''

After putting the little birdies inside the castle for obvious safety reasons i wrapped them with a small fabric. I went to see what the front yard has to offer me this time and was completely taken aback... by the extra member of theirs.

**[To Be Continued]**

I have a feeling that some of the readers might be disappointed at this chapter, but it will get more intresting once you _bear_ with me. Note the hint *wink*

Next one might take its time, but that's your problem... partly... if you don't leave positive reviews.

The last words that was said in the previous chapter was Choppers.

Ktxbai -


	21. A Familiar Face

**Chapter 21: A Familiar Face.**

**Yeah, weird chapter title... moving on.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Drum Castle, Front Yard, Ezekiel's POV]

''Oh God, not you guys again'' I said after setting the birdies in a more safer area inside the castle and witnessing Luffy sucker punch Wapol in his snout. Unfortunately for us, that being me, Luffy, Chopper and Kureha, weren't so lucky to see Wapol fall from the mountain without the help of his suborbinates.

I was looking at the third member and willed myself to remember him. Its like i've seen him before, maybe someone i beat up? Looking to my left, i saw Luffy cracking his knuckles. ''It just feels like you just keep getting in our way again and again''

''Why are _they_ here? And whose that shitty skunk man?''

The 'shitty skunk man' as Sanji dubbed him after few moments, looked at me with complete hatred in his eyes directed solely at me. ''We meet again, _Vane_'' My lastname was spitted out by him if it were a venom.

''Do you know him, Ezekiel?'' Luffys serious face was washed out and looked at me with surprise.

''Never seen him before, but he obviously remembers me'' Turning back at the hairy man with white baggy pants and his brown hair filled torso acting as a woolly shirt. ''Oi! Are you the one i owe money? Because i remember paying them all before i became a pirate''

''Don't be shitting me, Vane! It's because of you i had to suffer in marine jail!''

''Is he a friend of yours?'' Sanji asked me, but i ignored his guestion and made my own.

''Look, can't we get into a decent compromise here? I'm injured and i haven't replenished my reserves yet''

''I don't care if you have a deadly disease! I've been training till this day to get my revenge!''

''Where have i heard this story before'' I deadpanned at him.

''I'm not the only one that's aiming to clam your head! Me and dozens more have been paid to remove your existance from this world!''

Now i was intrested. ''You mean that someone wants me dead? I already have a Shishibukai after my ass''

''Isn't that obvious. You and Luffy here are the only ones with bounties, so that shouldn't be a surprise'' Sanji exclaimed.

''You're right, but the key word here would be 'paid'. Usually that job is reserved for hitmen and as you can see...'' He just nodded, figuring out that the man in front of us can't be described as one.

''You fiend! How dare you approach the King of the Drum Kingdom and commit such a henious, violent act!'' Chess shouted at us, closely followed by Kuromarimo.

''Yes! He is the King of this land! You stand before the King who rules these people!''

I looked at Luffy who by now stretched his mouth wide open. ''Who cares! You guys just piss me off!'' And ended it showing his tounge at them. I laughed at his antics, it was funny seeing him imitating the fat hippo.

''And what is your story?'' I asked the 'unknown' man.

He snorted at me. ''I heard that the Straw Hat pirates were here and decided to lend my assistance to them in eliminating you.

''Hey, brats. You know them?'' Kureha asked us from behind me and Luffy.

''Yeah, he's a Jamaguchi! A Jamaguchi pirate!'' Luffy began stomp the snow like a kid that has been denied to eat candy before going to sleep.

''Jamaguchi? (Big problem mouth)'' Doctorine asked while Luffy still continued his childish antics, much to my amusement here.

''All he does is cause me problems! Eating my ship, bullying my nakama, he's not gonna get away with it anymore!'' After that, it went with Sanji reminding Luffy about the coldness outside and the Captain running back to the castle.

Slowly standing up, Wapol looked at our direction. ''Now... I'm angry. Straw Hat... I'm gonna eat you alive!''

''Give the guy few minutes will ya? He went back inside to fetch his jacket'' I pointed at the place Luffy stood seconds ago.

''He's Gone!'' Wapol also began to stomp like Luffy did minutes ago.

Chopper went over to me when i was discussing Sanji about the hair-covered man. ''Ezekiel-San, i have to ask'' Turning our head to the now four-legged Chopper and nodded at him. ''Did his... arms just stretch?''

''Yeah, he stretches alright. He's a Rubberman'' Sanji told him.

Chopper was now shocked. ''W-What's that?''

We both grinned at him. ''A monster, just like you and me'' I told him with as much proudness as i could, since there's no reason to be ashamed who you are. Chopper was silent and stared at me for a while. Tuning out the rants of Wapols flunkies, i set my sight to the hateful glare of the other weird man. ''Mind telling me more about your 'benefactor'' I inguired the chubby man.

''I could tell you a bit. First; he doesn't like your kind'' I frowned at him. ''And that's all i'm going to tell you before killing you''

''Your client sounds like a racist bastard, something i have no intrest in meeting in the near future''

''This castle is Hiluluk's grave'' I heard Kureha say after Wapols jibberings and i looked down to see the fierce gaze of determination by Chopper. ''I don't give a damn about this rundown place. I guess you have't realized it was this rendeer who hung Hiluluk's flag there'' Wapol just laughed at that and began to throw insults at Choppers deseased father figure.

''Defiling my sacred castle with that filthy doctor's flag! BURN THAT FLAG AT ONCE!''

Briefly looking at the reindeer, that was slowly turning into his giant fuzzy two-legged Chopper. ''You will not enter this castle... ever''

I whistled at his size. ''Someone eats his plate empty''

''What flag is doctor's conviction! I'll never let it be taken down! EVER!''

''Hahahaha! Show no mercy! Leave none of them alive!'' Wapol shouted at us and turned to his temporary addition. ''That includes you too, Onikuma''

''Demon Bear, how... fitting'' I though for awhile and i still couldn't remember the guy.

''A shame you injured your left eye, i would've taken the pleasure of squashing both of them in my palms'' Onikuma snarled at me.

''Oh, it's not injured. It's sleeping a bit from the stress i might've put in''

''Grandma, you gonna fight too?'' Sanji made the mistake of mentioning the Witch's age and got a bump in his head for it.

''If you guys can't handle it, i'll come and save you'' She sounded irritated and i decided to keep my mouth shut lest i'll be the next target of the old woman. ''What was that, brat?''

''Nothing, absolutely nothing. I wasn't thinking anything about anyones age at the moment'' I frantically waved my hands and turned around just in time to grab a arrow directed at my head. Breaking it in two, i nonchalantly threw it aside. Onikuma was by now shouting at Chess about 'claiming' me. ''Oi! I ain't no ones possession!''

Glansing at my side to see Sanji's outstreched leg intersepting a fuzzy black hairball from the other flunkie from Wapol that stuck to his leg. Chopper tried to help our cook, but also got the fuzzball in his arms which he and Sanji 'played' tag with them. It went like that for a while when Kureha and i shook our heads.

''Oi! Ezekiel, a little help'' Our cook yelled at me, but it was too late when Chess shot those flaming arrows of his that whizzed past the afroballs, setting the aflame. Apparently Chopper used him as a decoy and went in to punch Wapol, but stopped in his tracks saying that he couldn't punch men with 'sick' heart. That proved to be costly as Wapol opened his mouth and was about to eat our reindeer for dinner.

Using Shunshin, i accelerated my speed and slide under the giant maw through Choppers legs. ''Propus! (A star that means 'Forward foot' or 'Rising foot [In some cases])'' And kicked him straight under his jaw, where he was lifted from the ground and flew few yards away. I had my left leg high and right hand balancing my weight as to not lose my balance.

While Wapol was in mid-air, Luffy, who was flung over here with the help of Sanji, tackled him even further towards the woolly hippo. The poor creature soared through the sky and vanished in a bright star.

The both men of Wapol rushed over to their King while Onikuma took advantage of my slightly restrained movement and rushed at me with a huge double-edged axe. _''Where did he get that?''_. Luckily for me, Luffy pulled me back with his streched arm and got me away just as the axe was about to cleave me half.

''Thank you. You guys are really great'' Chopper thanked us. I smiled at him and patted his over-sized hat, while ignoring Sanjis rants about Luffy wearing Nami's jacket.

''That's what nakamas are for'' I told the blue-nosed doctor.

''But i didn't-'' He was about to retort to me when Wapol stood up and shouted something along the line of 'Baku Baku Factory'.

''Oh! He got up!''

''He shouldn't be able to stand after the hits he took'' Luffy and Sanji said respectively.

''I guess all those layers of lard must've absorbed the impact'' I nodded to myself.

The King of Drum Island turned to his men ''Chess, let's hear what was on my menu today''

The mentioned Guard of Wapol took a small notebook and began reading his todays menu. ''Ah, onboard of a ship, you had one 'butter sauteed cannon', one 'cannon extra rare and a 'cannonball and gunpowder salad. You also had one 'grilled house' in town'' Reciting it, he made a bow to his King.

''What the hell do you eat?'' Sanji asked sarcatically with a sweatdrop.

''That's some serious diet'' After i said that, Wapol began to transform. There started to appear a chimney on top of his head, cannons as hands, two windows and a door in the middle of his stomach. ''The hell...''

''A house?'' Sanji also made a face of disgust while Luffys was the polar opposite.

''Cooooooool!'' That said, we looked horrified when Wapol... ate... his two suborbinates in one go and began to munch them.

''What the hell!''

''He's eating his nakama!''

''A cannibal!'' We, as the Straw Hat pirates said, while staring with Chopper at the giant houseman Wapol. Even Onikuma stopped and looked at the houseman with morbid expression. Wapol began to dance side to side with smoke rising from his head and two cannonarms. Stopping after his 'ritual' was done, the door on his belly began to open, revealing the two Guards of Wapol fused together with four faces and with equal number of hands. They were being held by a straing pair of brown belts that appeared somehow on their torso and called themselves 'Chessmarimo'.

Wapol began his own rant that everything in his country goes as he says and took aim with one of his cannonarm at the flag on top of the castle. I, of course, wouldn't let that happen and did a quick series of hand-seal for a Fire Jutsu. ''Katon: Endan! (Fire Release: Flame Bullet!)'' And spitted a large glob of Chakra filled fireball at the cannonball, destroying it in mid-air before it hit the treasured flag. ''Phew, and not a second too late'' I boasted and was patted hard behind my back by a grinning Luffy.

Chopper looked at me wide-eyed, but it was Kureha who brought out his thoughts for him. ''Your also a Devil Fruit-user?''

Turning to her, i sheepishly scrathed behind my head. ''Nah, you see, i have never eaten a Devil Fruit much less seen one'' I saw that she took a step back, like everyone else i told before, the first being Daxter and my crew. _''My crew... i like the sound of that''_

''He's our Magician! A cool Magician with cool tricks'' Luffy shouted and turned to Chopper. ''He'll show you a magic trick if you join'' The Captain pouted when he didn't get a reply from the shocked reindeer.

''I-Impossible and your eyes...'' Doctorine continued.

''..._might _have something to do with it, but i leave that to Tony-Kun to figure it out'' Just then a Giant axe went pass me that was attached to a chain. Turning my head, i saw Onikuma helding the chain with a look of irritation.

''I will make you pay for what you did to me!''

''And for the thousandth time! I don't remember who you are!'' I shouted back at Onikuma.

''Can't remember, CAN'T REMEMBER! Because of you, i had to suffer in jail! Your the one responsible for getting me and my buddies in that hellhole!''

I widened my eyes when reality hit me. ''It was you? Wow, you got out?''

''So you do know him'' Sanji side glanced at me.

''Yeah, he's the leader of a small gang of bandits that i beated about a year ago. Those bastards were harrasing a old man and i did something about it'' I answered the cook, who just shrugged. Obviously because it wasn't his problem.

He growled at me even more. ''Do you know how much i had to spend to bribe the marines'' I knew that was a rhetorical guestion, but i pretended not to listen to him and mused to myself.

''The marines have fallen so low on their guard duties. They can't even keep their justice up'' I shook my head. ''If i had been in the marines, none of you would've been alive before meeting your gages'' Hearing some stomping noises i saw that Onikuma charged at me, surpirisingly fast for someone his size.

He first came at me with a swipe that, to my utter surprise, was a brown furry bear claw. Following the claw, i saw that his whole arm was covered in it and so was his visible torso. His face had that bear-like features with yellow animal eyes and was also covered in brown fur from head to tow, while wearing its brown pants. Despite his larger size and obviously increased speed and muscle mass, might give him an edge here, but i knew i could take on him. The two small fuzzy bear ears would've looked cute if not for the fact that he attacked me again. This time much faster and pegged it as another advantage of the Zoan Devil Fruit.

''My Kuma Kuma no Mi, model: Brown Bear! (Bear Bear Fruit). A Zoan Devil Fruit that gives me the powers of a bear! This power will forfeit your life!''

_''Greaaaat, my Chakra isn't full yet, infact its still little half full and this shit comes here? Unveliavable''_ I thought and decided to spawn Fire based Jutsus, given that my affinity to it, it costs less Chakra than it normally.

Onikuma released another barrage of slashes that were all a little too close given that i was a cyklops at the moment. One was about to slash my face, but i redirected it with a kick to his furry elbow that i used as a small springboard. Sommersaulting in mid-aid and seeing him make another fast swipe with me having no chance of dodging it, i clapped my hands together for a Wind Jutsu this time. Feeling the Wind being compressed between my palms, i placed my now opened palms in his torso shouting. ''Fūton: Reppūshō! (Wind Release: Gale Palm)''

The plan was to use his mass for my advantage and the Wind Jutsu did its job of getting me some distance from the bearman, as Lisanna liked to call him back at my start Island.

I skidded back to where i saw Luffy bombed with his rubber body in front of Wapol from the castles tower. I guessed that Wapol made another shot at the flag while i was occupied with Onikuma like it should've happened in the anime. ''Straw Hat! Ezekiel-San!'' Chopper shouted at us while i kept gazing at my opponent. ''Are you okay!''

''I'm fine. I'm rubber'' Luffy answered him and turned to me. ''What about you?''

''My hands hurt from doing those hand-seals, can't move properly with the feets still sore, left eye wastes consumes too much energy without a proper control over it, i've never fought one-eyed and my opponent is a Zoan-type'' I turned back to him grinning. ''I've had better days''

He replied with his own grin and pointed at the fusioned flunkies. ''Oi, reindeer. Think you can finish that guy off?''

Chopper turned his gaze at them with determination. ''He's nothing, no problem''

''Then, i guess it's settled'' The Captain declared. ''My opponent is gonna be Jamaguchi!''

''You low-life Straw Hat! How dare you fly around like that!'' I heard Wapol say behind my back where Luffy was positioned.

''I won't hold back anymore!'' Chopper also shouted at his opponent.

''You think you can defeat me? Eh, monster?'' The fusioned Wapol warrior guestioned the other Zoan-type on the yard.

''It's clobbering time!'' I threw my hands in the air.

Onikuma just snorted at me, still in his bear form. ''What i've seen now, you can only spit fire. Nothing impressive''

I still didn't let go of my grin. ''Oh my, it seems i'm being underestimated. We can't have that, now can we, so let me show you how we do this back home'' Running at him with my normal speed, i activated the right Sharingan eye and dodged his retrieved axe and made a front flip, while balancing myself on his shoulders. Gripping the fur on his shoulder i dropped my weight forward until i touched the ground with my feet and Onikuma bending backwards. ''Never... underestimate... ME!'' Enhancing my sore arms with Chakra i threw him further away from the others through gritted teeth. Turning around, i saw that Luffy was staring at Chopper with all his attention. ''This will be done in three minutes, after that, we'll have that eating contest Luffy!''

Of course, i wasn't underestimating _my_ opponent, seeing that he was now in a half human from. He now sported a shorter snout with a black tip, his fur was slightly shorter and was a bit thinner than in his human form and took a traditional Sudo stance. ''Witness the power of the bears!''

''Since when did you get a Devil Fruit?'' I ignored him once again and was intrested more about _where_ did he get the cursed Fruit. ''Those were said to be nigh impossible to find in East Blue, much less in a marine prison''

Onikuma grinned an animalistic grin. ''I can tell you that before i maim you. You see, my benefactor, for some odd reasons wants your head and granted me this power to do so. Don't get me wrong, i'm doing this for my own reasons and theres were a lot more where we came from''

I furrowed my brows in thought. _''That might explain the reason of the odd beasts and others, but what has Blade got to do with this? Maybe nothing''_ Taking my own stance that my Master taught me which was supposed to be an traditional stance, but i altered it in a street style that focused solely on beating the crap out of my opponent.

Rushing over to him, i saw that while his strikes were faster and stronger given his bear traits, they were easily dodged until my feet gave up on me and i lost my balance. That mistake proved to be costly as i got a nasty bearish swipe over my torso where i got three identical slash marks and managed to avoid the next one directed at my exposed neck. _''Okay, no close-combat with that tons-of-fuzzy-fun''_ I heard explosion from nearby and gritted my teeth in pain when i touched my bleeding chest. _''I better end this quick'' _Looking at Onikuma, i saw that he was panting hard. Very hard. _''That's it!''_

Setting my plan in my head, i ran at him with normal speed to try close-combat once more. ''Useless'' And made another swipe at him, but with his two paws about to crush me in a mush. Using my surrounding as advantage i slided under his feet with the help of the snow and tied his legs with a steel string that i summoned from my wrist. Quickly standing up and pulling them so that i literally swept his feet under him, with him falling on his belly with a large thud.

Without wasting any time and jumping high into the air, i saw him slowly standing up but not before i plunged my right knee into his spine. ''Rukbat! (The Knee of the Archer!)''

''AAARGH!'' Onikuma shouted after hearing a crack coming from his exposed back. It must've hurt like hell and i was sure he won't be getting anytime soon. He turned his head and looked at me with the ever present hatred in his eyes. ''You can't defeate me! I was the one that's supposed to slay you! How!''

I sighed while sitting crosslegged on his back. ''Last time i saw you was about a year ago and you didn't have the Devil Fruits-ability. But you just now you barge in with one and by the looks of it, haven't trained it properly. Do you really think that you'll just _get _those powers without doing shit? My Captain trained with his own and gained those powers through sheer hard work. Mine also didn't come just like that... well it might've, but i've also trained with them hard'' I saw that he wasn't listening and tried to drill a hole in my head with his gaze. ''Might as well take you as a captive''

''Do you really think this is over! More will come and they all will seek and destroy that _hard work_ you worked so hard! Mark my words, this won't be-!'' I had enough and kicked him in the jaw, rendering him unconscious for once.

''Shut the hell up. It bugs the crap out of me if someone talks more than Daxter'' Grabbing the bearmans leg, i summoned a clone to help me drag the unconscious Zoan Fruit-user. Just then a epiphany hit me and i looked at the castle. ''Uhm, Clone-Kun. Do your mind if you get Kuma-Chan here to the front yard and tie him up?''

He gave me a salute and ran with the large man, where i sweatdropped at the sight. Running back to the castle with my slashed chest giving me a rough time. _''Oh man, i'm really beat now and still injured'' _Seeing a one window and jumping through it i came into a intresting sight. Wapol was... eating himself and out came the same guy, but slimmer.

''You're not going anywhere'' Wapol jumped after Nami and i couldn't let that happen, because she was sick. Deciding to help the lost navigator and berate her later about the latest act she did i jumped towards the so called King and met him in mid-air.

''Denebola! (Tail of the Lion!)'' I delivered the mid-air spin kick, before the thin Wapol reached Nami. Though the kick was weak, Luffy also managed to give his own streched kick and put a decent distance between us and Wapol. ''Luffy, next time, keep your enemies in sight''

''Enemy?'' He looked at me guestioningly and turned back to Wapol when he blinked. ''Oh, its him! I don't remember him being that thin''

I palmed my face and hear a familiar sound of rubber being hit and looked up to see Nami, with a cold glare at our Captain. ''Luffy?'' She slowly began with a cold voice that sent chill down my spine. ''Why is my jacket all ripped up?'' And began to tap on his shoulder.

''Luffy... run'' My small whisper went into deaf ears when Nami began to shout.

''Do you know how much that cost me! 28,800 Beli! And that was _after_ bargaining for it!'' Nami accusingly pointed her finger at the rubber man.

Luffy tried to apologize, but i knew it was in vain. ''Sorry, but that guy shot his cannons and stuff at me. There was no helping it!''

''I can vouch for that, so there's no reason to delay this anymore than it is'' I also tried to put an end to this small banter and get my recovery behind me as soon as possible, since people are after my head. Though, Nami's grin directed at me made me rethink what i just said.

''If that's the case, then don't worry about it. I'll forgive you'' Me and Luffy looked at each other dumbly with guestion marks above our heads. ''When i lent you my jacket, i didn't really expect it to come back in good condition anyway'' She turned around us and i could feel the malicious intent from her. ''For compensation, i'll just tack on a little extra to the 'three times return'. 100,000 Beli, that's what you owe me now''

''Ah! Can it be this was all part of your plan!''

Trying once again to save the future Pirate Kings ass i waved my hands in a diffusing manner. ''Isn't that too much, surely there's another wa-'' Maybe it was another divine intervention that i keep getting, but in reality, it was Wapols banters about a key, an armory about eating weapons to become Kriegs second coming with the weapons and all. Realizing that he didn't have the key, he and Luffy ran into upper stairs. Pulling a key from my sleeves that i snatched from the corrupted King, i twirled it around my finger in front of Nami. ''Here i though i'll make you a nice present for your succesful recovery and give you a key to the treasury, but meh...''

She chuckled bitterly. ''A shame indeed, but what abo-!'' This time it was me who interrupted her sentence and carried her bridal style. ''What are you doing?''

''I'm saving that ass of yours, the doctor will probably murder you... or us all.. if she sees you like this'' Hearing a something coming towards us, we say Sanji crawling like a 7-moths-old baby towards us.

''Nami-Saaan~'' He had that heart eye of his again, but seemed to turn into dust once he saw us. ''Oi! Shitty magician, what are you doing!''

I blinked at him for a moment and looked back at Nami and answered with a shrug. Not one to argue with the love cook, i sighed and not in a mood to do shit. ''Please stop that, i don't have ti... you know what, fine, i won't talk to you. I'm tired and i got my own shit to worry about''

After that, it was quite with the both parties. It was weird, but welcomed as the itching in my eye still wouldn't leave and was irritating. Receiving the memories of my clone that was responsible for Onikuma, that was thrown into a cellar a smile formed on my lips. Setting the still sick navigator onto her bed, i moved Sanji to the infirmary and went to see the birdies.

Whistling on the way there, my heart sunk a bit when i couldn't see them in the nest with the fabric gone. ''My babies grow so fast, already flying around the freed Island'' And wiped a small tear from the corner of my visible eye. ''This is how parents feel about their children growing up, i'm so proud''

**[To Be Continued]**

There ya go, another fast update... hopefully, seeing as its a new trend going around here. So yeah, someone wants Ezekiel dead. Not that i'm going to tell you who or what and why, but admit it, it was such a turn off for this story and i'm currently thinking about giving Ezekiel a side quest. And yes, the Bearman from the chapter 1 made another appearance, weird...

The attacks name i made are actually named after the constellation, whether their Latin, Arab or Greek. Their usually martial arts related and will change depending about the amount of coffe i have left.

Propus – The name was taken from the Greek as 'Forward foot', but i changed it as 'Rising foot'. It's kinda like Rock Lee's, Leaf Rising Wind, where the enemy gets kicked under the china and 'floats' mid-air.

Rukbat - The Knee of the Archer, well... a knee to the back or in other human parts.

Denebola - Tail of the Lion, just a round-house kick mid-air i came up with.

My attacks name as you can probably see, come from the contellations of the celestial spirits. Its been awhile since i last checked and the internet isn't a reliable source, so i would apreciate if you would PM me about the mistakes.

Stay tuned, since i have something special in the next chapter ;)

- Get of mah lawn!


	22. Doctor on Board

**Chapter 22: Doctor on Board.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Nami's Recuperation Room, Ezekiel's POV]

After checking up on the little birds that vanished from their nest, i walked back to see Nami surrounded by Vivi and some of the village soldiers with Dalton on his own bed. Looking around i felt a familiar weight in my right shoulder. ''What the hell happened to you?'' Daxter shouted at my ear.

I looked down and saw that i had new bandages on my torso and hands tended by the worried Chopper. The left eye i managed to cover up with my forehead protector like i've seen Kakashi do in the Naruto series. ''Ezekiel-San!'' Vivi also shouted at me and stood up from her stool next to Nami. ''Your eye!''

Smiling i waved my bandaged hands in front of me. ''Its nothing. I sorta underwent a minor change is all. It hurts, yes, but i'll manage for now so no worries.''

''So its the same like last time you went that change?'' Daxter asked me and i remembered that i had that same painful feeling in my eyes months ago. Didn't know it hurts, but i guess it has to do that i'm not an actual Uchiha.

''Yeah, this time its 100 times more painful.''

''Ouch...'' The ottsel gringed when Kureha finished her torture on Sanji. ''Hey, old hag. Do you have some pain killers for my bud here?'' Closing my eyes i tilted my head to 'dodged' an empty bottle aimed at Daxter for his remark i sighed.

''You'll never learn, do you.'' I muttered and set the unconscious ottsel in the end of Nami's bed to snoor. I sat next to her and began to rub my exposed eye when Kureha asked Dalton about the key to the castle armory. The ex-Guard told her that Wapol had it in his person and flew with it in the sky by Luffy.

''Doctorine.'' Nami said and sat up on her bed. ''Would you mind making our crew's recovery say, free? And also, would you mind releasing me now?''

The elder woman looked angry by that. ''I think you know already the answer to that. The fee is all the gold and cargo on your ship _and_ you have to stay here for at least another two days.''

''Nami-San, she's right! You have to let her care for you and the others!'' The Princess said and i was watching the scene with as much amusement as i could muster.

''I'm fine. I don't feel like dying anytime soon.'' Feeling a tug on my hand, i followed it and saw Nami winking at me with a grin. Raising my eyebrow at her antics, she pointed at my coats jacket that i had on. Searching what was so intresting about it, i pulled out my butterfly-knife and a weird key. Snatching the key from my palm Nami twirled it in her finger. ''You need this key to the armory, don't you?''

Dalton also stood up straight from his bed and looked at me. ''How did you get that key!''

''I was taught by the best.'' I shrugged and winked back at Nami.

''Is that really it? What's this all about then?'' The Doctor gave me a hard glare and turned back to Nami. ''You've got some guts demanding something from me. You're a rotten little girl.'' Nami just grinned at her when the Witch took the key. ''Fine. I won't take any payment for treating you, but that's all unless...'' Here she turned back to me and held a finger at my covered eye. ''Unless your boyfriend here gives me that eye of his for me to study, otherwise i cannot accept the second condition, as a Doctor of course.'' We both blushed a bit from that, but remembered what she said and glared back at her.

''That wasn't part of the de-!'' Nami began but i interrupted her by flicking my butterfly-knife with a sickening grin.

''Is that so? I guess _one_ eye wouldn't be that bad would it?'' The room fell silent and the only noise that came was Daxter snoring and me flicking the knife. ''Left or right, your call.''

The Witch looked at me like i've lost it, but it was Vivi that voiced it out. ''Ezekiel-San that's not necessary. We'll just wait until Nami-San gets better and leave.''

I pouted at her. ''It would save me a lot of troubles if i just gouge it out. Believe me, the next ones are going to be a major pain in the ass for me in the future.''

That didn't stop the Witch to laugh at me. ''You certainly got some guts brat, i'll give you that much. Fine, i want the right eye on my desk by morning with a red ribbon attached to it.'' She then turned to Nami and gave her a glare. ''And don't you dare run off on me or i'll hunt you all down!'' Those said, she took few villagers with her to help out on something not before saying there is some coats nearby for Nami to use.

''Oh, Doctorine. There's a guy in the dungeons locked up, though i must warn you. He doesn't really like my guts nor anyones guts for the time being'' I said, but got an wave from her when she closed the door behind her.

*Bam!*

''How dumb can you be!'' Nami shouted at me, waking the ottsel up who looked around.

''The damn skank! When i get my hands on her...'' Daxter said and began to strangle the air like it was her throat.

Rubbing my head, i looked at the angry Nami and Vivi. ''What?''

''Were you really going to do what you just said?'' Vivi asked and i grinned.

''It was on my mind at first, but as quickly as it came it vanished.'' They both looked at me oddly and even Dalton was slightly put off by my 'acting'.

''The hell are you talkin' bout'?''

Sighing, i answered Daxters question. ''The Doctor wants my eye under a microscope, so we'll leave tonight if i don't plan on ripping it off.'' Just then i heard light knocking coming from the window and saw four light blue birds chirping and one pecking the glass. ''My babies!'' The window was on the left side of Namis bed, so i had to crawl over her to get the window. Welcoming the cold air and the grown birds that started to fly around me i smiled at them. ''Man, you guys have grown have you?''

''Ezek-Kun?'' Nami asked me. ''What are those birds doing?''

I lifted my right arm up and the birds landed there in line whilst chirping at me. I was also about to answer to Nami, but was beat to it by Chopper that managed to hide from Luffy. ''Why are they calling you 'mother'?''

The chirping stopped there when the attention got to me. ''Maybe i am their mother.'' And laughed at my proclamation. That was a mistake on my part by the wide opened mouth and the birds barged in it. I was choking on the heap of feathers, but got helped out at he moment by Chopper who pulled them out from my mouth. I glared at the birds and blew a feather from my mouth. ''What was that all about?'' More chirping came from them and Chopper translated it for me.

''They thought you had food for them'' I sweatdropped at the birds, but eventually smiled at them. There was a sudden weight in my lap and saw that Chopper tried to reach for my covered eye. I felt that every soul in the room looked at the left eye. ''This won't take too long''

The birds scattered around the room with one nibbing my ear and two my hair. The rest were with the girls, when Dalton asked me a guestion. ''What did you mean that there's another of Wapols goons in the dungeon? I thought there was two of them and they vanished from the scenery.''

I scratched my head at that. ''Well, you see, he wasn't one Wapol's registered soldier. The guy is actually someone that someone paid to get rid of me''

''You mean someones targeting you?'' Daxter said incredulously, but changed it into one of horror. ''That means someone is after me too!'' The ottsel pointed an accusing finger at me. ''Its all your damn fault, we could've stayed low and stayed clubbin' all night but nooooo! You had to go and become a pirate!''

Thankfully, for me, his outburst was takes as a sign of danger and was attacked by my 'children' before more guestions would arise. I chuckled at them and whistled, where they once again went into a line in my arm. ''That's not nice of you guys. I'm sure he didn't mean all that did he?'' I got a chirp from one of them and raised my eyebrow. ''Yeah your right, he did deserve that Ratchet, but Bumblebee and Ironhide went too far.'' The two mentioned birds looked away in embarrasement. ''I expect more leadership material from you Optimus Prime, but i guess Jazz has to get you guys in line for now.''

''You understand what their talking about?'' Nami asked me with a barely restrained laughter. ''And you even named them.''

I gave a deadpanned expression that didn't help her to snigger at me. ''What kind of mother would i be if i didn't. I'm a good mother, am i not?'' A chorus of chirping was heard and after that a laughter came from Nami which i returned with a glare. ''Do you think that's funny?'' I saw the birds were also viciously glaring at our navigator.

''Hahaha, no, its just i can't see you as a parent of sorts.''

''Low blow Nami, if i can take care of my cousins i can take care of my children of birds.''

She gave me a smile with a pout. ''Sorry, i tried to be funny here.'' I just showed a childish tounge followed but my birds, elicting another fit of laughter from her and Vivi.

Shrugging i gave the same stare to my birds. ''And how in the seventh heavens name did you grow up so fast? Last time i saw you guys you couldn't even feed yourselves.''

''I think i have an answer for that'' Dalton made himself known once more. ''These aren't your average birds around here, but a rare kind of one. After being born, their parents feed them once where they 'grow up' rapidly as you put it and fly off and leave their hatchlings to survive after it. That's why their rare since there aren't much of them and there aren't many of the here.''

I looked at the birds that were also looking back at me. ''What a weird-ass bunch of feathers you guys are, but that's what to expect from the creatures of the Grand Line.'' There was a long stare between us when i had an idea. ''Autobots, roll and move out.'' And they flew away from the window that was left open and shut behind. ''Always wanted to say that.'' I didn't even notice that Chopper covered my eye again and it didn't hurt as much as it did before, but it did leave me tired afterwards. _''Guess it drains me more than i thought.''_

''Its not really as bad as i thought, but i must ask you to stay and rest. I'd like to study it more if you don't mind.''

''You better do it fast. That sensei of yours wants it gift wrapped in her desk by morning'' I smiled at Chopper and patted the hat on his head. ''I suggest you start running.''

He was confused at first when the door was forcefully opened. ''Reindeer! Be my nakama!'' It was our Captain that resumed his chase after Chopper around the castle.

Standing out of the bed and doing some light stretches, i sighed and looked at the two girls and the ottsel. ''Vivi, could you help Nami here to get everything ready for our departure now. I already have the birdies on the look-out for the Witch. Dax, with me''

Once we got out of the room, the ottsel bombarded me with guestions ''Do you even know whose after you?''

''Nah, and i doubt the teddybear downstairs will help us figure it either. All we can do is wait and be done with.''

''Can't you just use that weird eye illusion of your?''

''No, i can't. It seems i don't have any affinity for a Genjutsu so torturing is out.'' I shrugged.

''And you'll be alright with only one eye?''

''Don't think about it too much, it'll be fine in its own time.'' After that it was silent for a short while between the two of us when we got into the front yard of the castle where we saw Zoro and Usopp. The latter building a snowman of Daxter. I looked up and saw it was already nighttime and we'll be leaving soon.

''Dude! That's awesome!'' Daxter said and went to probably 'help' him out. I walked up to the apathetic swordsman and sat down in the snow.

''Yo.'' I managed to say and sat opposite him in the snow. ''How's it been?''

''The hell happened to you?'' A reasonable guestion where i just shrugged.

''I had to climb the damn mountain and my eye...changed.'' Uncovering the left eye for a moment for him to see, the swordsman raised an eyebrow of intrest. ''It doesn't hurt as much as before, but my control of it sucks. I can't even turn it off yet and it wastes too much energy just to see with it.''

''You surely got yourself in a lot of trouble.'' I chuckled at that remark.

''Look, i need to ask you a favor.'' Once again he raised his eyebrow and nodded. ''Would you mind if i join you in those physical exersices you do? I noticed that i need to up my own strenght a few notch and you seem to be sufficient in that area.''

He shrugged. ''Sure, there are weights in the ship so its cool.''

''Oi! Reindeer! Let's be pirates together~!'' Luffy shouted at the top of the castle where i barely saw a furry little creature sitting.

''Luffy, give it up already. He's not gonna come out just because you yell like that.'' Usopp said, closely followed by Zoro.

''He doesn't want to be a pirate''

The Captain pointed an accusing finger at Zoro. ''You're wrong! I want to take him along!''

''That's what _you_ want to do!'' Zoro yelled.

Luffy turned to me and pointed the finger at me. ''Ezekiel, tell the reindeer to come be a pirate!''

''As much as i'd like him to come with us, i can't force anyone to set to the sea with us.''

''But you guys know each other more! And a friend of yours is a friend of mine and a friend of mine is my nakama who has to join my crew.''

I threw my hands in the air in defeat. ''I can't even debate with that 'logic' of yours, it doesn't make any sense!'' I was, of course, ignored and Luffy continued his shouts at Chopper. Hearing some noises that came from the small forest nearby, we saw Chopper standing there after few long moments.

''Reindeer! Oi! Let's be pirates together!'' Luffy shouted once more and i walked up to him and crossed my arms.

''I can't'' Came the reply of the soon to be Straw Hat.

''No it's not! It's fun!'' Luffy seemed to be in his own little world for now and i looked at the reindeer with a smile.

''Tell me, why?''

Chopper looked down and tried to find proper words to explain it to us. ''I mean... i mean i'm a reindeer!''

''So what? We all have our own faults.''

''I have antlers, and hooves, and...''

''I have my scary eyes that many people don't have, Daxter is a freak of nature by itself, Luffy here can stretch...'' Here i showed it by pinching his cheek and stretching it with the Captain grinning. ''...Zoro can't find his destination even if it kicked him in the head...'' The swordsman grumbled at me, but was ignored. ''...Usopp has a long nose and is a liar, Sanji hides something in his left eye that's probably something hideous for him to cover, Nami is the most greediest woman i've had the pleasure to meet and Vivi is...'' I could fell dozens of eyes glaring behind me and my only problem was finding a fault in the Princess. ''...Is too naive, i'm just saying here don't be hatin'.''

Chopper was silent for awhile and i thought he was taking in all those. ''I have a blue nose!'' He shouted at us.

''Which means that your perfect for this little crew of misfits.'' I grinned at him and i knew the reindeer was in a deep though under the outraged expression he made.

''I want to be a pirate, i really do! I can't be the nakama of a human, y'know. I'm a monster!'' I was about to say something more, like an ottsel on board but was beat to it by Chopper. ''Someone like me _can't_ be your nakama! So i'm here.'' He put an hurt face in his visage that saddened me, but let him tell what was on his heart. ''I'm here to say thanks. Thank you for the invitation. I'll stay here, but if you ever feel like it, come back someday and-.''

Before he began his speech, me and Luffy grinned at each other with nods and threw our hands in the air. ''SHUT UP! LET'S GO!'' That was also one of the moments i wanted to say when i thought about the up-coming happenings in this serie.

''Since when is 'Shut up!' an invitation?'' Zoro inquired us, but was ignored and we looked at the bawling Chopper with different smiles except Sanji who was unconscious at the moment to care. After that, it went with us waiting for Chopper to probably say his good-byes to the old hag.

''Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu!).'' To pass up the time, Luffy, Usopp and Daxter made giant snowballs for me to vaporize it with a Fire Jutsu.

''Cool! Do it again!'' Luffy shouted while Usopp asked Nami about her health. ''Oi, should we go say good-bye to that Granny Doctor and the Acorn-ossan, too?''

It went like that for a while with me spacing out and jolting back to reality, hearing Nami say announce somehting. ''...As soon as Chopper comes out, we'll head down the mountain and set sail for Arabasta! Vivi, you'll agree with that, right?''

''Yes, as long as we have a Doctor.''

Usopp sighed at that. ''Okay. Then i'll get the ropeway ready. Oi, Luffy! Give me a hand will ya.''

''I never knew there was a ropeway!'' Luffy said and i was getting angrier by the minute.

''There was a effin ropeway here!'' Then i slapped my forehead out of my own stupidity. ''Of course there should've been one!'' Just then, my birdies flew over to me and began to chirp madly. ''Whoa! Hey! One at a time!'' Optimus Prime began to report to me that the Witch went nuts and is chasing my favorite reindeer around with spears and axes. ''Your shittin' me right?''

''Since when can you understand birds?'' Usopp inquired me.

''Who wouldn't understand their own flesh and blood.'' I retorted back when Chopper came with a sleight while running away from the enraged Doctor. ''Wohoo! Tony-Kun!''

''EVERYONE GET IN THE SLEIGH! WE'RE GOING DOWN THE MOUNTAIN!''

Everyone was gaping at the proclamation of the reindeer, but i was grinning ear to ear. ''Ya'll hear 'im!'' Making few clones to help the girls and Sanji in the moving sleight, we sled down the rope away from Kureha that was cursing at us.

''Chopper get back here! I still want the brats eye!''

Ignoring her rants, i was sitting next to Nami who was grabbing once again my scarf for dear life and i briefly saw that Daxter was flying with the birds holding on to him.

''This is so cool! I'm flying!'' And flew higher with the birds following us.

''That was so cool! Let's do it again!'' Luffy shouted while we were heading to our ship.

''Idiot, we're leaving!'' Nami shouted at the Captain.

''I thought i was gonna die!'' Usopp also shouted whilst grabbing onto the rail of the sleight and Sanji also made his voice known to us.

''Where the hell am i?''

''Welcome to the Lightning fast express sleight of the amazing Chopper! Please feel free to puke over the railing if you fell sick or otherwise incapable of handling your stomach. Today were out of peanuts and Stallone movies so beat with us for few hours before landing!'' I shouted and had that epiphany again. ''Tony-Kun, stop!'' He heard me and slowed down whilst giving me a guestioning glance.

''What now?'' Chopper asked me and i pointed at the Drum Rockie just when a bright light went off all around us. The reindeer turned back and stared at the giant pink cloud and the pink snow that fell around the Island with a bright light. The young Doctor was crying his heart out at the memories of his surrogate fathers dream of making cherry blossom grow on this cold Island and i could sympathise with him a little.

I felt someone gripping my right hand and saw it was Nami that was staring at the cherry blossom tree looking mountain. ''Beautiful.'' She muttered and i smiled at her.

''Yeah, its romantic alright.'' I also gripped her hand back and looked at it. First i thought that she would have yanked my hand and shout at me, but i was surprised when she instead leaned her head on my shoulder while we were sitting in the sleight and watching the scene.

''Thank you.'' I heard her sigh.

I was confused what she meant by that. ''For what?''

''For taking care of me.'' And was rewarded with a peck on the cheek. I felt my face heat up and moved my collar so that the heat under my jacker would escape. ''You're sweet.''

''Anytime soft lips.''

''Aww... already using petnames.'' Daxters voice came and began to sing to us with the birds chirping. I got a tickmark on my forehead that turned into a lightbulb.

''Autobots, exterminate the rat.'' That said, the birds took the ottsel and threw him a good distance away from us. ''Damn thing ruined our moment.''

''What moment?'' A irritated Sanji asked as he turned around and looked at us.

''You know, the moment when your supposed to turn around when people want to have some alone time.'' The cook scowled at me, but nonetheless turned around and went to try and do the same with the Princess.

''We have a moment?'' Nami asked me this time and i raised an eyebrow at that.

''I thought we had one and i enjoyed it.'' I stated, but got an giggle from the navigator.

''Well i hope we'll get more of these exciting _moments_.'' The last part was whispered in my ear and i was, as a guy, excited and at the same time nerveous at that.

''I'll look forwards to it.'' I grinned and were once again off while getting weird looks from the crew. Lucky for us, no one made a comment and let it slide this time.

As we neared our ship, i got the priviledge of helping Nami on board by jumping on to the deck, as a real gentleman should do. Though, i was copied by Sanji who also helped Vivi on board to get on the ship. Shrugging, we looked at our newest member looking back at his home.

''Oi... is that Chopper guy okay?'' Usopp whispered in our direction, but Nami told him to leave the guy be for awhile. I was currently holding my arm with the birds looking at me.

''Soldiers.'' I began with proudness in my voice. ''Today is the day we go our separate ways to becoming men. Do not cry, as it is now, you are from this day on, fullfledged Autobot-soldiers and your mission is to protect the Island from future threats.'' I cried since i couldn't keep my pokerface on. ''I just want to say i'm proud of you like any parent should be. Fly! I'll never forget about my children, you'll always have a place in my heart.'' I didn't know if birds could cry, but these one could and saluted at me.

Standing up straight, i gave my own salute that lasted for a few seconds before the birds flew off with the command of Optimus Prime. I couldn't take it anymore and hugged Nami whilst sobbing about my children fullfilling their duties as real men. ''Aren't you exaggerating a bit?''

I got funny looks from the crew once again when i broke the hug. ''No, i'm acting as any mother would about their sons becoming men.''

''THEIR NOT YOUR CHILDREN!''

''They could've been!'' I shouted back at them and shared a laugh over my expence.

[Moments later in the Night]

After my emotional turmoil we started to have a grand party. ''Ahahahaha!'' We all laughed at Luffy who had those chopsticks stuck in his nose while dancing. The face was just too damn funny and i had to draw it.

We continued to laughing and clapping at Luffy, but there was one party pooper that didn't join us in our fun. ''Chopper! Oi, Chopper! You jerk, how long are you gonna sit there spacing out!'' Usopp shouted.

I went to the ships Doctor and grabbed the small reindeer. ''No ones glooming on this ship! That's rule number one!''

''Hahaha! Since when do we have rules!'' A drunk Zoro kept laughing at Luffys antics and i saw Sanji was also enjoying himself as was Usopp and Daxter. The girls were probably in a safe distance away from us.

''That's the idea! We don't!''

''That doesn't even make sense!'' The drunk ottsel shouted.

''And nothing will!'' I saw Usopp was about to give grog to Chopper, but i slammed him upside the head. ''Oi! Otouto-Kun (Little brother) can't drink that stuff!'' But i was shoved away by Sanji.

''Aw, come over here and sing with me!''

''Nah! Come on, try the nose-chopsticks!'' Luffy offered him and we were dancing our asses off whilst cheering at the cherry blossom mountain. I saw that Nami was talking with Chopper and saw that the crazy duck was butt freezed from something.

''Carue! Why were you frozen in the river!'' The worried Princess said and it began to mumble something about animal language.

''Haha, he probably slipped and fell in. What a klutz.'' Zoro laughed at the unfortunate creature, but Chopper began to translate and said that he saw Zoro swim in the river. The duck wanted to save the swordsman, but it got frozen instead.

''So it was YOUR fault!'' Nami punched Zoro in the head for that.

''Tony-Kun, you can understand what Carue is saying?'' Vivi inquired. ''Then how come Ezekiel-San understod the other birds and not Carue?''

''Call it a mother's intuition'' I nodded to myself and shared a laugh with the crews dumbasses, me including. Chopper told them that he was originally an animal so it was natural for him to understand other animals.

''That's wonderful, Chopper!'' Nami complimented. ''You have your medical abilities, and that as well!'' That got Chopper into another fit of his weird happy-dancing-insulting reindeer/human hybrid mode.

''By the way Nami, what do you mean 'medical abilities'?'' Zoro asked and Nami told them that our new recruit has a ton loads of information regarding medics and stuff. The others, except me who knew about this shouted a chorus of 'what?' around the ship. It was funny from my perspective seeing the clueless pirates.

''Chopper, you're a doctor!''

''Wow!''

''You're kidding me, right?'' Zoro, Luffy and Usopp asked.

''Of course he is yer dumbwits!'' Daxter made his drunked voice clear, but passed out of the amout of alcohol he consumed today.

''Geez! Just what exactly did you invite Chopper to be?'' Usopp asked the Captain.

''Seven-level transformation. Cool reindeer.'' Luffy said nodding.

''Emergency food supply.'' Sanji said bluntly.

''A little brother that i always wanted!'' I shouted getting weird looks around. ''It's true.'' After that Chopper paniced about forgetting his medical supplies at the castle when thankfully Nami said she found it in the sled we rode. She was talking something with the depressed reindeer and i knew just the recipe to get him out of his bad vibes. ''Alright everyone! Whose up to some cool Magic Tricks!''

There was a chorus of drunked 'aye' around and i stood in front of them in the rail of the ship. ''Chopper! Ezekiel is going to show us a Magic Trick! Get over here!'' Luffy shouted and jumped up and down.

''Magic!'' Chopper also shouted, but this time in disbelief.

''Damn right, let me show you!'' I summoned a clone beside me, shocking the reindeer once more. ''This is nothing, here comes the tough part and its still a prototype.'' Holding both of my hands in front of me, i consertrated on my Lightning Chakra and charged a azure ball of lightning between my palms that grew in size. The ball of Lightning was about the size of an adults two hands and slowly growing in size and power while it let out a small chirping noises.

''Ready Boss?'' Nodding the clone made his own set of hand seal. ''Katon: Kasumi Enbu no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Mist Blaze Dance Technique).'' The clone exhaled a greyish flammable gas from his mouth in a long stream above the ship. After that it 'poofed' out of existence, but went unnoticed as everyone looked up at the grey mist following us.

''Sugooi!'' I heard Chopper shout and with that i threw the ball of Lightning into the gas with a shout of 'Raikyū! (Lightning ball!)'. As it came in contact with the floating gas, it ignited it in a light azure mist that followed us. The best part was the small harmless sparks falling onto our ship, much to the amusement and the disbelieved Chopper who looked funny with the chopsticks in his nostrils and mouth agape. What made me laugh was his enthusiastic shout. ''This is the first time i've ever had this much fun!''

''And there's more to come on this crew!'' I shouted.

Usopp made a toast while the rain of spark were still dropping onto us. ''To our new nakama! Kanpai!''

''Kanpai!''

[Nighttime]

We partied almost through the night that i forgot about my sleep wholly and made a mental note to visit Chopper about that. As my crew... ''My crew... there we go again.'' Passed out, i began to clean our ship from the whole mess that we all created. ''Cleaning the deck, all night long. Cleaning the deck while i sing this song~'' Just then i heard a noise coming behind me and i was excited to see Nami again, but saw it was instade Vivi. _''What is she doing here this late?''_ Raising my eyebrow what felt like the thousandth time today i asked her. ''Not to sound rude or anything, but what are you doing this late here? Thought you of all people would gone to sleep.''

''I could ask you the same.'' I was silent for a few seconds until she clasped her hands in her mouth. ''Oh, i'm sorry! I didn't mean to-!'' She made the same 'mistake' as Nami about a week ago.

''Shh... is alright, it was a mistake. It happens, we learn from them and the like.'' I sat on the railing and patted the spot next to me. ''You obviously have something that troubles you.'' She sat next to me and looked down. We were silent for a few minutes and it was beginning to get irritating since i hated that. ''I'll get us some tea, any special wishes Princess?''

''Blueberry... and please don't call me that.'' She mumbled which i shrugged and went to get them for us. Avoiding Sanji's 'traps' and setting the tea and some small sandwiches i went back to see her still sitting on the rail. Handing the tea and the sandwiches with a smile she smiled back. ''Thank you.''

''Don't mention it.'' I took a small sip from my tea and savored the weird tasting beverage, but it was still a welcoming taste. ''Ready to let go of your burden? I've been told that i'm a good listener and advisor when it comes to other people problems.'' I scrathed my head when i remembered something. ''Though i suck figuring out my own.'' That remark was ment to put her on ease, which to my relief worked.

''I wanted to say that i admire what you did when we came to the Island?''

''What did i do?'' I asked with a smile.

''Asking for help instead of recklessly attacking, you solved our problem without a necessary fight and even put aside your pride to help a comrade.''

I chuckled a bit, it wasn't a mocking chuckle but an understanding chuckle. ''I see... i'm flattered, really, but i'm sure that wasn't what you wanted to tell me.'' She nodded and took a generous bite from the sandwich i made.

''These are good.'' She beamed at me.

''Really? I'm happy to hear that. Imitating Sanji is _not_ easy an easy task when it comes to food.'' She giggled at that a sipped the tea.

''Do you think my country will be as it used to be? Or what you heard what it used to?'' Vivi asked me and i remembered saying that i 'visited' Arabasta.

''I'm positive. Everything will turn alright so no need to worry your pretty head, once your there and smack some sense into your people... every problem you had will be in the past and its time to make amends for the future.''

She brightened up at that and stood up with determination. ''Your right, everything _will _turn out right.''

''And you'll be a damn good leader and Princess for your people.''

''Damn right i'll be!''

I was silent for a moment and chuckled at her. ''We'll first begin with that language of yours young lady and learn to keep the voice down a peg or two.'' She blushed at first in embarrasement, but let it go and gave a slow nod. Eating the last of the sandwich i stood up and began to stretch. ''I suggest you get some sleep, otherwise that baby skin of yours gets wrinkles like the old Witch Doctors.''

She was about to leave, but turned around and gave me a hug. I was startled but nonetheless hugged back. ''Thank you for listening.''

''My pleasure.'' Patting her back reasurringly i smiled at her. ''If you need to talk more, you'll know where to find me.'' She nodded again and gave a light peck on my cheek and ran to the cabin where she and Nami shared. I rubbed my cheek and stood dumbly with a confused look i though i had on me. ''Must be a chick thing...'' Shaking my head, i went back to cleaning while singing a random song with the Iphone i had.

[Next Morning]

After i cleaned the ship, i decided to train my body for the longest time now. I was currently doing the handstand push up exercise and i was nearing the 500 limit i made for myself. ''If i can't reach 500, i have to do 1000 squats, and if i can't do that-!'' I was interrupted by the early bird Sanji, who wanted to make breakfast for our resident females on the ship.

''What are you blabbering about?''

''I'm training, so if i have to climb a mountain again i won't be unprepared for it like last time.'' I stopped for a while and realised something. ''Goddamnit, i forgot the numbers.'' And just like that stopped, since my hands began to hurt and sat down on the deck. Summoning a clone to pump the pedal for the water-drawing machine for me to get a decent shower, i went to the bathroom to get ready for my day. ''Everyday, its so wonderful~'' I sang and realised that it was something i do alot nowadays. _''Perhaps i'm getting too old, Grandma used to do something like these when aging.''_

I shook my head at the memory and was about to leave when i saw something that made my morning and at the same time fear for my life. Nami, in a small towel barely hiding her body right in front of me. She turned to my direction and was about to scream when i shut her mouth. Shushing with my mouth and pointing up where the crew where fighting each other she nodded and let go of her mouth. ''What are you doing here?''

''I could ask you the same, missy.'' I glared at her and noticed something... i wasn't wearing any towel. Looking down, i saw Nami followed where i looked and immediately looked in another direction whilst blushing furiously. ''That might explain why it was so damn cold.'' I said bluntly and wrapped the cloth around my waist. ''I do hope you didn't come all the way here to peek on me, Nami.''

She shook her head still with the cute blush. ''N-N-NO, i thought you were pedaling the machine for me and well...'' She tried to find more words for this uncomfortable situation.

''How about we forget this and you won't charge me for this?'' I snapped her out of her mind of whatever she was thinking and looked at me with the blush still on her face.

''After this much trouble? No, i don't think so?''

''What did i do?''

''You peeked first!''

''You saw my-''

''Don't even go there.'' She rubbed the forehead in irritation, but what worried me was the grin that came after it. ''You have to pay, but i decide what. Got it?''

''I don't have much money on me and i decided to use them to buy more weapons.'' She scowled a bit, but got that mischievous grin again.

''Who said i wanted money?'' And began to shove me out of the bathroom.

I sighed at the whole thing. ''Troublesome navigators. I swear, one day she's going to be the death of me.'' Scratching my head, i took my white shorts with dark purple long-sleeved shirt that had flames licking the bottom part of the shirt. The cool thing about the shirt was the 'chaos wheel symbol' on the back of it that was red coloured. Wrapping the white scarf made of light fabric and the left eye was still covered with the forehead protector. I decided not to wear any shoes today as it was a nice weather out there and sealed a pair sandals in my wristband for emergency. Messing with my hair a bit to get them fall down on my face, i looked at the mirror. ''An earing would good on me.''

That said, i walked up the deck and saw the crew looking at me. I was afraid that they got a whiff about the incident with me and Nami, but sighed in relief when Usopp asked me a guestion. ''You look different.''

''Yeah, what's with that?'' Luffy also inquired.

''Do i now?'' I asked a bit surprised.

''Yeah, and it looks good on you too.'' Now it was Vivi who said that where i blushed at the compliment and scratched my head.

''Thanks.'' I felt some light tugs on my shorts and saw Chopper trying to dragging me to the the front of the ship. Probably to see the sea with me, since it was his first time seeing the wide blue horizon clearly.

''This is so cool! The ocean is huge!'' Chopper beamed from my lap and we were accompanied by Luffy sitting in his favorite spot.

''Of course it is! Having adventures on a huge ocean is what being a pirate's all about!''

''Not only that, but we get to see all kinds of new things, like rare herbs and medical treatments for different ways to help people.'' Chopper turned his head to me and had that excited gleam in his eyes that was rather adorable if i say so myself.

''I see! Being a pirate really is amazing!'' Just then, a huge shadow passed us and looked up to see a giant 'seagull' as Luffy said soar above us where it made went forwards and made dash at our ship. Setting the still excited reindeer on the ground, i jumped on top of the bird when it managed to get Luffys torso between his beak.

''Wohoo! Luffy get over here, this is fun!'' I said and opened the beak to free my Captain to join the fun of riding the 'seagull'.

I heard Chopper and Vivi scream at us to get back, but ignored them. ''Cool! Make the birdie go higher, Ezekiel!'' Complying, i summoned some steel string and wrapped it around the giant birds beak. Pulling the strings the bird went into that direction. ''Higher!'' It wasn't much later when the birds was beyond exhausted and started to fall to the ground with the help of Luffy pounding it to go faster.

''I can't get it to hold on for much long, Luffy! We're gonna crash!'' I began to direct the nearly unconscious bird to our ship where we landed straight into the poop deck where the guys where playing poker. ''Whew, we need to do these more often, ne Luffy?''

The Captain gave me a fist bump which i accepted and pulled me under the downed 'seagull'. ''I'm glad i have someone as you as my nakama!'' And patted my back whit a grin.

I grinned back to him. ''This crew is far from boring and i enjoy myself here, so no need to thank me. I should be the one thanking here for letting me join, what do you say we eat the bird to the bone? First one gets to eat the winners desert!''

''Hahaha! You're on! Sanji, we got some meat!'' We saw that our small crash landing sprawled the crew all around the deck. ''What's with you guys? Are you sleeping?''

''BECAUSE OF YOU GUYS!'' They all screamed at us.

''Way to go thanking the guys who brought food.'' I mumbled and muttered about ungrateful bastards.

''How are you gonna repay me now, asscrab! I was going to win us a lot of money!'' Daxter screamed at me. We sheepishly apologized that just continued to rise their ire further, but vanished in thin air when the guys saw the bird we brought. ''What's with the bird anyways?''

''Wow, that's great.''

''We can finally have a decent meal around here.''

''We can eat this?'' Daxter, Sanji, Zoro and Usopp said whilst staring at our future meal.

I looked at our newest addition seeing like that. ''Huh? Tony-Kun, what wrong?''

His blue nose twitched and was slowly smiling. ''Well... i think... being a pirate is... a pirate is so awesome!'' We grinned at the young Doctor.

''That so? We're awesome!'' Luffy boasted and shared a laugh when Nami interrupted the our bromance moment.

''You guys! The ship's about to land at Arabasta. We don't have time to be playing around! Get moving!''

''Ya'll heard the lady!'' I threw my fist in the air and followed Nami to the main deck of the ships where i grabbed Chopper and sat with him in the rail crosslegged. The reindeer was sitting on my lap grinning and asked me about Arabasta. ''Its a country where Vivi's father rules. A polar opposite from your Island, excited huh?'' He nodded furiously at me and looked at the others.

''This evil guy called Crocodile is trying to take it over.''

''And Crocodile is one of the seven Shichibukai.'' Usopp and Sanji said, after that i had to explain to Chopper about the World Goverments dogs that call themselves pirates that are an extremely powerful individuals. Luffy was getting pumped up and wants to meet 'beat' him. Vivi then told us that the guy is considered as a hero in Arabasta and that its just a cover he puts in front of him. The Warlord is actually the mastermind behind the whole rebellion in the desert Island and plans on overthrowing the current King.

''Yosh! I just need to kick this Crocofile guys's ass, right?'' Luffy smacked his palm against his fist.

''Yes, if we're able to stop the rebellion, we can the drive Baroque Works out.'' Vivi said and i explained to Chopper about the organization with the help of Usopp.

So, long story short. The top dog is the sandman himself, Crocodile as the Mr. 0 with his own female partner. After that it was made of thirteen more underdogs with 5 first of them having the Devil Fruit powers and the rest being random agents. The Officer Agents have 200 suborbinates called 'Billions' and the other random Agents have 1800 suborbinates called 'Millions'.

''So your sayin' that there are as much as 2000 wussies waitin' for us? I say bring 'em!'' Daxter boasted, but got depressed as he was ignored by us.

''2000 people!'' Usopp and Chopper shouted.

''Yosh! I get it now! I just need to kick this Crocodile guy's ass, right?'' I laughed at Luffys antics, the guy wasn't even listening to what Vivi said.

''If the takeover of Arabasta is Baroque Works' final part, then the rest of the Officer Agents must all be gathering to the desert Kingdom.'' I said, getting an affirmative from Vivi who was by now biting her lower lip in frustation.

After a short silence, Luffy woke up from some kind of trance. ''I get it! So i just need to kick that Crocodile's-!''

I managed to interrupt him. ''Yes, you beat the crap out of him and we all can live happily ever after.''

''Yosha! Off to Arabasta!'' The Captain shouted in the air.

**[To Be Continued]**

Yeah, the special chapter comes at the next chapter, so sorry about that. I'll start focusing more on the parts where Ezekiel's presence causes the famous butterfly effect, but it will be mostly in the next chapter.

There will also be more about the mystery 'society' there, so bear with me more. If ya'll have any good ideas, please feel free to PM me about them.

Every review will be welcomed and flames will be sent back to where evil puppies go.

- Give me a rest will ya?


	23. Arabasta in Sight

**Chapter 23: Arabasta in Sight.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Going Merry, Ezekiel's POV]

''There, it should be better now.'' Chopper said to me as he examined my left eye. He said that there were alot new kinds of nerves building in there, which is said to be impossible in his line of work. I still though couldn't uncover as it wouldn't let me deactivate it and was too damn sensitive. ''But i recommed you keep it covered for awhile.''

Nodding, i took in the words of ous doctor. He also reprimanded me about my late night training in the ocean with the injuries i still had on. I was doing my usual training with my katana to use the Cold Wind-ability of it. Why is it cold, is maybe because of its name 'Yamaoroshi' meaning, 'Wind Blowing down from the Mountain' and the mountains wind is usually cold.

After the little Doctor's visit, the new addition of the Straw Hat went fishing with Usopp and the other creatures of the ship.

''Luffy! Don't lie to me!'' I heard Sanji shout at our Captain and went to see what the commotion was all about. Currently i was sitting in the rail opposite the ships gallery with the girls reading a map. ''Tell me what you know'' Luffy tried to look away and i found the scene humoring. ''Oi. What's with you turning your face away? Look at me you bastard!''

''No, no. I really don't know what you're talking about.'' It was clear in Luffys face that he was hiding about something.

''Okay, then i'll ask you straight. How is it that the rations i prepared to last the ten of us until we reached Arabasta suddenly disappeared in the middle of the night?'' Sanji said and stood up while giving Luffy a critical eye. ''Don't give me that attitude! You'd be terrible at poker!'' I briefly looked around and saw that Zoro was lying on the deck, probably sleeping. ''Oi, there's something around your mouth.''

''Ah, crap! Leftovers!'' And hide his mouth from the irritated cook.

''So it _was_ you!'' Sanji shouted and kicked the Captain across the face. He then turned towards me still with the same expression. ''And you didn't see anything last night?''

''Nope, i was training away from the ship so as to not wake you guys up. I didn't know that Luffy would've _sleepwalked_ his way to the _locked_ fridge.'' I shrugged at his direction. ''You could've asked me to do the traps, but no, you had to impress the ladies.'' Looking at his direction, the cook was fuming so i waved my hands at his direction. ''I'm just sayin'. Who in their right mind uses something simple trap as a mousetrap.''

''I thought it would be enough for someone as Luffy.'' The cook muttered.

Nami tapped me on the shoulder and gave me a glare. ''You could have done something you know.''

''Remind me next time to buy some cool new gadgets and locks. I would've given them to Daxter to make some proper lock or stuff for us.''

''I see you've got a point.'' She turned to the others that were fishing in peace, but i could see that they were muching something eadible. ''I'll think about it. Our lives probably depends on it.''

''We'll then! We have to catch some fish for Sanji-Kun.'' Usopp said and i saw that our cook made his way to them.

''What were you doing last night, Ezekiel-San?'' Vivi inquired me and i began to rub my left arm that was covered by my long-sleeved shirt.

''You know, the usual one with the weird stuff i normally do.'' I laughed a tad bit nerveously and Nami looked at me skeptically.

''Are you hiding something?'' She asked with narrowed eyes.

''Me?'' I pointed at myself and saw that Sanji hit the liar and the other three animals upside their heads for also smuggling food around. ''What would i be hiding?'' The navigator aproached me and gripped my left arm i was unconsciously rubbing. I winced at the contact and she rolled the sleeve up to see the arm that had some scortch marks and scars.

''What the hell!'' It was then that the others ran at our direction to see what the commotion was all about. ''When did this happen?''

''What is that?'' Luffy asked me when Chopper ran inside the ship to get his medical supplies.

''I was...'' Here i was given a critical look and decided to tell the truth. ''Worked on a new Jutsu. It tends to be a tad bit destructive so that's why i took the distance.''

''Ooh! The cool Lightning bird arm?''

I scratched my head. ''Something like that, but more powerful one.''

*Bam!*

''Don't go and do stupid things like that, we still need you.'' Nami said and once again got weird looks around the deck, me including while i rubbed my head. ''I meant that your valuable to this ship.'' She corrected and was saved from futher guestions by Chopper reprimanding me second time today.

''Why didn't you tell me about this!''

''Uhm... i forgot?'' I replied to the Doctor, getting a scowl from him. It went like that for a few more minutes with Nami, Chopper, Daxter and Vivi lecturing me and take it easy. Not sure what they meant by that and shrugged when Sanji said that he'll look for something eadible.

I was currently lounging in the gallery with Nami reading the newspaper, Chopper his book and i was reading the book of my Ninjutsus. I looked around and saw Sanji moving boxes and Nami looking in my direction. ''Ezek-Kun, i was wondering if you need anything new once we get to the Island.''

''What do you mean?'' She's been acting weird lately and i found it to be strangely endearing.

''You always use those weird old knives and swords and i though that it would be better for you to stock up.'' I think it was my imagination when the room temperature dropped few degrees about Nami commenting my swords age.

''I can't think of something right now, but i appreciate your offer.'' I smiled and saw something in the paper she was reading. ''Are you done with that?''

She was confused, but i clarified when i pointed at the newspaper. ''Sure, here.''

I began to skip the parts and went to the part where the marines invaded another pirate infested Island beside Jaya. _''It says here that their looking for something dangerous that needs to be detained.''_ I furrowed my brows in thought. _''They might look for me by the words Onikuma told me, but the odds would be miniscule as that Island is further in the east from Jaya. I wonder if there are more people like me around here. Like the one beside me and Dax that's not supposed to be in this anime. Wait, what's this. /...We are going to take extreme precautions to preventing these people from causing terrors and destruction. As it is now, all pirates, marines and civiliand alike will be put in observation until further notice.../ _''That's weird-''

Just then, Vivi barged from the doors interrupting what i was about to say. ''Nami-San, there's something wrong! Come quick!'' We all made our way outside to see a giant light green mist in our course rising to the sky.

''Ah, don't worry about that.'' Nami began. ''It's nothing. Just some steam.'' She then explained it about being a underwater volcano in our course.

''There are volcanoes even on the ocean floor?'' Chopper asked Nami from my shoulder. The reindeer nowadays likes to sit there whereas the other orange creature hangs with Usopp as a part-time sidekick.

''Who cares? We can't eat 'em.'' Luffy pouted and i tuned the rest and went to see the silent Zoro.

''Is he alive?'' I asked Chopper who also looked closer.

''He's breathing, does Zoro do this all the time?''

''Yeah, i'm kinda envious about that.'' Shrugging, we both started to see the bait they used. ''With that bait, you guys better catch us some proper dinner or there will be consequences.'' I was also hungry and haven't eaten much after training, so i was sligtly grumpy.

Sanji made his presence also beside me. ''You guys see anything there?''

''Oh, Sanji. Go make me something.'' Luffy ordered, but it wasn't like the normal order that other pirate Captains throws here and there.

''There's nothing i can do about you is there?'' Sanji sighed.

''I'm afraid you don't have a choice in that matter.'' I chuckled at him. The cook told us that he'll sweep the ship top to bottom and see if there's anything to eat. Walking back to the ship, i took out some napkins and gave it to the girls and the reindeer. ''I suggest you'll use these.''

When we entered the green steam mist, i heard few coughing sounds but it was mostly from the other guys as they didn't have the napkin cover their noses. ''It stinks of sulfur.''

''My god it smells like ass in here!''

''I can't see a thing! Nothing but steam!'' The guys minus Sanji, Zoro and Chopper complained and i was also breathing throught the napkin. The best part was that it smells like mint, which is one of my favorites. Ignoring what was going around us until we got through the stamy mist, we all saw that there was someone gripping on the bait Carue.

''Oh no! Why am i grabbing a spot-billed duck i only just met!'' The weirdo with the ridiculous outfit said.

''A-A mermaid?'' Luffy asked dumbly, that is until the weird ballerina-man lost his grip on Carue and fell to the ocean.

''Help me! Please!'' He couldn't swin and said that he's a hammer in the water. Setting the reindeer to the deck, i went after the guy and pulled him out by grabbing his coat and throwing it into our ship. ''Oh... i thought it was all over.'' He was panting hard for awhile and got his energy back. ''No, really!'' The weirdo put his right hand in a half prayer. ''Swan, swan. My life has been saved by pirates that i do not even know. I will never forget your kindness!'' He bowed to us multiple times. ''Oh, but i was wondering if i might have a bowl of warm soup?''

''WE DON'T HAVE ANY!''

''WE'RE STARVING TOO!'' Zoro shouted and i was looking down at the others from the rail upstairs with Vivi next to me. Looking at the Princess i saw she was looking at the extra passanger like someone would when trying to remember a familiar face.

The weird ballerina-man looked at our direction and winked. ''Oh my~! Well aren't you cuuute~! My little fruit, i just want to eat you up~!'' And gave a wink and sent a smooch in our direction.

''That's new.'' I said and took a cautious step back.

''Certainly a strange person.'' Vivi also said and imitated my action.

''You can't swin, huh?'' Luffy inquired and the weird man said that he has a Devil Fruit-ability. After Usopp asked him what kind of fruit he ate.

''Prepare to witness my ability!'' He took a weird stance and sucker punched Luffy across the face. I took immediate action and was about to incapacitate him with Zoro, but were surprised when the guy turned into Luffy. Except he had those swan-costume with him. ''Wait, wait, wait!'' The weird man said in Luffys voice. ''I _said_ i was putting on a show! Stop joooking around!''

''It's me!'' The now awake Captain shouted in surprise.

''Surprised you! Surprised you! Surprised you!'' The now turned swan-Luffy laughed and explained that if he touches his face with his left hand, he turns back to normal and with his right into another face. He then began to touch everyones face except mine and Vivi's as we were in a 'safe' distance from him. ''Well, there really is no need to hit anybody though.''

It was funny seeing him change faces, but my Henge is better as i can also change my clothes too. I pinched my nose when he turned into Nami and flashed her breast at us. That was funny as hell as i wiped the excess blood while getting a glare from Nami where she smacked the weird okama upside the head.

''Oi, you okay?'' Luffy asked the downed okama that slowly got up.

''Well, now i'm sorry to say that i shouldn't show you any more of my ability than that.'' The okama explained and got cheers from Luffy, Usopp and Chopper that were demanding more. ''Ah! Really, i guess i have no choice! Wanna see some more?'' He twirled around in that weird balley dance of his.

As he began to change faces again, there was someone i thought looked vaguely familiar. ''Vivi, wasn't that your-'' I was shut by Vivi placing her hand to cover my mouth while she looked shocked, so i decided to observe the passanger for the time being.

Twirling few times, the okama looked at his small audience. ''So how was my performance? I don't usually show this to people.''

''It was great!'' The three stooges danced and i looked around to see where the Precursor went and shrugged. He was probably in the cabin fixing something that he said is going to be ready in a moment. ''Ezekiel! Show him your Magic Tricks too!'' Luffy shouted at me and stopped dancing.

''Nah, i shouldn't show anything. As far as i'm concerned he could be our enemy.'' I crossed my arms.

They pouted at me which i returned with a glare. Thankfully, it was over as the okamas ship was in sight and jumped on the rail. ''My, the time has come for us to part. How tragic.'' The other guys began to beg for him to stay in with us vain. ''Do not be sad. Journeys and partings go hand in hand. But, remember this: To true friendship, how long you've known each other means nothing! Don't cry for me!''

''We'll see you again!'' Luffy shouted.

''Now, let's go men!''

''Aye! Mr. 2, Bon Clay-Sama!'' The okamas suborbinates shouted at him and went off to their own direction.

''What!'' We all shouted. _''I should've known better.''_ I gritted my teeth in frustation.

''M-Mr. 2!'' Usopp shrieked in panic.

''That was... Mr. 2, Bon Clay!'' Vivi exclaimed.

''Vivi! Didn't you recognize him!'' Luffy asked, where Vivi replied that she's never met him and Mr. 1 before. She doesn't even know their abilities, but she did describe us how he looked.

''You should have noticed!'' Luffy, Zoro and Usopp said at the same time. I saw that the girl was put off and crouched down to see the downed Princess.

''Something wrong?'' I inquired and helped her stood up once more. She told us about the faces she saw when Mr. 2 changed his appearances and amongs them was her father.

''If you could impersonate the King you could pull off some pretty nasty things.'' Zoro mused.

''We just let a really dangerous guy get away'' Usopp said and was asked more by Chopper.

''He certainly will be a lot of trouble if he turns out to be our enemy.'' Nami told us and said that after he discovers that we are his enemies he can use those memories to impersonate any one of us. We wouldn't be able to trust each others.

''You forgot about me and Sanji.'' I raised my hand. ''The weirdo wasn't near me at that moment, so we two are cool. After that it went with Zoro, for once, coming up with a plan.

Zoro didn't have time to explain as something huge emerged from the ocean. As we braced ourselves, we saw it was a huge Sea Cat. ''That thing's huge!'' Luffy shouted in amazement.

''A Sea Cat!'' Vivi said.

''A SEA MONSTER!'' Usopp and Chopper shrieked.

''Call it what ever the hell you want!'' I shouted and made hand seals for the Chidori (One Thousand Birds). ''I call it dinner!'' In a matter of moments there was the azure lightning in my right palm, ready to get the thing down.

Zoro unsheated his three swords and also took a stance. ''Our first meal in four days!''

''Food!'' A berserk Luffy shouted.

I heard Nami say something about our course being ready and we guys saw that the damn beast was retreating. ''Turn the ship! The food is going to escape!'' I shouted and heard Sanji shout at us.

''Don't let it get away! Make sure you kill it!'' He unrolled his sleeves. ''You'd better make some damn good cooking, you monster cat!''

''I'll give you a choice here; sliced or diced!'' I shouted at the Sea Cat that was getting nervous by the second, that is until Vivi smacked our heads with a nearby broom. The Cat submerged and the rage and hunger took the best of me. ''The hell Vivi!'' Jumping of the rail, i went after the damn Cat to become a piece of meat in my plate.

''Ezekiel-San, don't!'' It was too late as i already began to swim after the cat. I had the Chidori deactivated and went another sets of seals for another widespread Lightning Jutsu until i saw something shiny in the corner. By then, all my hunger and rage washed away and swam to see the shiny thing was. Looking at it closer, it was another of those damn orb with weird scribbles, but this one had a deep line in the middle of it. Like it could be opened.

_''Intresting''_ I thought and reached for it. As i had it in my palm, it pulsed yes, but it didn't sink into my hand as the previous purple orb. _''Guess Daxter has to look for this too.''_ I looked around if i could spot something to eat, but the lack of air got to me and went back to the surface. Pulling myself up on top of the water, i made my way to the ship.

''Ezekiel-San!'' Vivi shouted at me and i scratched my damp hair a bit.

''Did you get the food?'' Luffy asked me.

''Nope, the damn thing's too fast underwater.'' I said as i took my drenched shirt of. ''But i found this one here and its glowing.''

''What is that? Can you eat it?'' At the comment of the Captain, Nami was about to snatch it from me but i held it away from her.

''Whoa, this could be dangerous so its better that i keep it as it is for now.'' I said and got a nod from Nami and i was about to go back to the gallery.

''Oi, we still need to mark you.'' A voice came from Zoro and i saw he had some markers and bandages.

''What's going on?'' The ottsel came and went to my shoulder. ''Still no food?'' I shook my head and heard him sigh as Chopper began to mark the X in my left forearm. ''What the hell! Where did you get that!'' The ottsel pointed at my right hand where i held the blue orb.

''Dunno, i just found it after i tried to chase our food.'' The ottsel didn't even listen as he grabbed it and began to examine it.

''Yeah, this will do.''

''What will what?'' I asked and was about to get irritated at his antics.

Daxter looked around in suspicious and whispered to me. ''You'll see it later.'' That said, he also took the X mark on his arm and went back to the cabin.

''Weird...'' I muttered and saw Chopper making his way to me.

''Hey, what should i do?''

I scratched my head and began to think when i snapped my fingers. ''Just give all you got and do what you feel is right.''

''Feel right... got it!'' Chuckling i tapped the reindeers pink hat and made a circle with the crew. Also dragging Daxter with us from the cabin.

''Yosh! Whatever happens from now on. This left arm is the mark of a nakama!'' Luffy declared. ''Now, let's get on dry land! TO EAT! Oh, and Arabasta!''

''Sort out your priorities. We're going up against group of top assassins, Luffy.'' Nami reprimanded the Captain about his enthusiastiam.

I went to see what Vivi was so happy about. ''Someone's in a good mood.'' I aproached her and gave a smile.

She turned around and also gave a smile. ''It's just, i'm happy to be back home.''

I nodded at her and looked up at the white clouds above us. I even reared my head fully to the back until i lost my balance and let my body hit the deck with a little help of the gravity. That action seemed to get the crews attention to me and started cirling around me. ''Excuse me, your blocking the clouds.''

I heard several sighs and saw few people scrambling around the ship in slight annoyance of my action. ''I thought you'd fallen asleep.'' Zoro asked as he leaned on the ships railing and closed one eye while the other was open.

''I won't be sleeping for another...'' Here i looked my wrist and imagined i had a watch clock. ''...week, give or take a few days.''

''Do you want me to give you medication for it?'' Chopper asked sincerely and i jerked my head to see the reindeer walking towards me.

''There's no need for it, maybe later, but what i do want is for you to join me here. Watching the clouds with me, you know.'' He nodded at me and set himself down where he also gazed at the clouds.

''I used to do this with Doctor.'' Chopper said after few moments of silence.

''Did you now? Is there anything else you guys liked to do?'' Nodding, Chopper told me about his and the quack Doctors exploit of 'healing' patients and running away from the soldiers. After he finished his story with me teasing him about eating him if we ever get lost in the ocean. ''I'm just kidding Tony-Kun.'' Looking around i saw that Luffy and Usopp tried to imitate Mr. 2's dance moves. ''Oi! Luffy, Usopp!'' Seeing as i got their attention i continued. ''Come join us here, the clouds are extra fluffy today.''

''What's so special about clouds?'' Luffy asked me and also plopped down next to us.

Chuckling i pointed at a cloud in the left of us. ''You see that one, what does it look like to you?''

''It looks like... a meatball.'' Usopp said and our stomachs grumbled, but still looked at the clouds with a sigh.

''Well... that's a start. Now imagine it in colours and it actually looking like one.'' I saw from my vision that the guys nodded. ''Good, now take a deep breath.'' After a long session of inhaling and exhaling, Luffy stood up with a jolt.

''I smell meatball!'' The other two guys also woke up from the short trance and scrambled around the ship. ''It has to be somewhere here!''

Standing up with a chuckle i saw that we were slowly nearing the Island. ''What did you do that for?'' Sanji asked me as i stretched.

''For the lolz, i guess. You gotta admit though...'' We looked at the trio fighting now over something that didn't make any sense. ''...It's pretty damn funny.'' He nodded with a smirk and i sat on the railing watching the ocean. Taking a deep breath and exhaling i blinked. ''Luffy was right, it smells like meatballs in here.''

''What are you brooding about?'' The voice of Nami came as she sat beside me.

''You know, the usual.'' I replied.

''C'mon, tell me.'' Nami pouted at me and i raised an eyebrow.

''Since when are you so intrested in my affairs?'' I asked playfully.

''I don't, i'm just worried is all.''

''I'm touched, someone is worried about me.'' I smiled at her.

''What are you talking about? We're all are worried about you.'' Now i was truly intresred.

''About what? I'm fine, really.'' I tried to assure.

''Tell that to youself, but you can't fool me.'' She glared at me. ''You don't need to be that stubborn.''

''I guess not.'' I looked over my shoulder to see Chopper trying to do the dance again with his hooves. ''Tony-Kun said that he'll do something about my sleep, so time will tell.'' She nodded and i smiled when Usopp told Chopper how he beat the Sea Kings in Calm Belt.

As we neared the sand-filled Island and i was still conversing with Nami, the crew had different expression and the most noticable was Luffy. ''Food!''

''Listen everyone, i'm only going to say this once. I expect you all to be on your best behavior at all time.'' Nami announced.

''Hai, Nami-San~!'' Sanji waved and i looked at Luffy who jumped over the rail.

''The guy you have to worry about the most already took off.'' Zoro said an we all saw the Captain running towards the town.

''Hey hold it!'' Nami shouted but it went to deaf ears as hunger got the best of him.

''He's completely inhumane.'' Usopp muttered.

''What'll we do?'' A worried Vivi said and i looked for the ottsel that emerged from the deck.

''Yo.'' He said as he held a strange circular-looking disc with two identical points at the back. It had a golden yellow circle at the center and olive-greenish sides. The whole thing was about Chopper's size. ''I got you a present.'' Daxter said grinning.

''And that is?'' I inquired.

''Find it yourself when we get a open space around here. It still need to be tested.'' He said and i sighed and looked at the gadget in curiousity.

I saw that Sanji, Zoro and Chopper jumped of the ship and Daxter climbing onto my shoulder. Walking to the trio that remained i started to stretch. ''I better go gather some intel of the happenings around here before looking for Luffy. I also suggest you go through the town without being discovered, Vivi.''

''He's right you know, but don't worry! I'll pick up some food for you, Vivi-Chan!'' Sanji said as we heard Carue 'quacking' about something.

''What's the matter?'' Vivi asked her duck when it pointed one of his wings at Mr. 3's ship. It wasn't much after that as i parted from the others wearing my scarf to hide some of my chin and the forehead protector over my left eye. Aside from those, i didn't get much attention to myself beside the curious glances to me and the silent ottsel.

Looking up, i saw a cloths shop and saw fit to buy something for me and the crew. Walking into it i resisted the urge to sigh.

''Hey! Long time no see! How you doing?'' The man that i saw back in Logue Town with his white-haired partner, though i couldn't see any of his other members.

''Uhm, hi.'' I waved at them. ''I'm fine, i guess. And you?''

''We've been great! Just arrived here and were about to leave.'' He laughed and patted me on the back.

_''I guess that they have an Eternal Pose if they leave this soon.''_ I thought and looked at the other member and couldn't remember her name.

''Hello, you remember me?'' She asked me with a wink.

''No.'' I replied bluntly and for a second thought that i sounded rude, but she took it as a insult.

''How could you not remember me?'' I shrugged and looked around trying to ignore both of them, but the woman was stubborn. ''Anyways, my name is Mary.'' She said and extended her hand. Showing some common courtesy i shook the hand and was about to say my name. ''I already know who you are, its hard not to.'' She said and began to massage my hand and i pulled away lest this gets awkward.

''I think i'll resume my regime for the day, don't want to let the others down.'' I smiled at her pouting face and went to the counter the second the two pirates left. _''Their not as notorious as us, but still... their not supposed to be in this storyline.'' _Shaking my head to get rid of those, i went to the old lady in the counter.

''We're those friends of yours?'' The old lady inquired and i smiled at her as she sorted my cloths.

''Not really, ma'am. Just some familiar faces in the ocean.''

The lady was quite nosy in that area. ''Is that so? You seem to buy cloths for others than yourself, how is that?''

Deciding to lie now was probably the best for now. ''Nah, i promised to get help a friend to stock up so here i am.'' She nodded and i smiled back where i went to see what i wore in the mirror. I had a pair of long white robes that reached to my knees with a blood red sash in the waist and the same colored pants. There was also some cool patterns inprinted on them that looked like old ruin symbols. The lower and the hood parts kinda reminded me of Altaïr's robe in Assassins Creed except with lighter shade of brown for boots that reached my knees where i tucked my pants in. ''I like the hoodie here, it protects you from the sun.''

''That it does.'' She said absentmindly as she finished my small shoppings.

''Thanks, i should be on my way.'' As i left the store, i stopped and looked at the rooftops. _''I could've swear that someone was just observing me.''_

I felt Daxter pull my hoodie up and hide in there. ''Marines.'' He manage to whisper to me and i nodded where i began to search for my nakamas. ''The others are at 10 o'clock from here.'' As i went there, i saw them hiding in a ruined house where i made my presence known.

They gave me a suspicious look as i had my hoodie on that clearly covered my face. ''Who are you.'' Sanji said as he aproached me.

''You don't even recognize your own nakama? I'm dissapointed.'' I grinned at him and saw that the other two girls had those hot dance-girl outfit. ''Well what do we have here? Nice choice, but not something you'd like to wear in the desert.'' I said and handed them the robes i bought for them and saw that the other two guys already had their own.

''What are you doing, shitty magician!'' Sanji shrieked at me and i smiled.

''About damn time you said that. I was starting to get worried about the lack of insults lately.'' Sighing and ignoring Sanji's glare, i took a piece of the meat that the guys were eating and began to munch it with Daxter. I looked at the downed Chopper and went to see what the little guys problem was. ''Tony-Kun, everything alright?''

The reindeer doctor was dizzy and pinched his blue nose. ''My nose is gonna fall off.'' He said as i crouched next to him.

''Is he sick?'' Nami asked and i answered that he was being affected by the perfume she was wearing. ''Perfume?''

''Oh yes. Tony-Kun's nose is very sensitive.'' Vivi said. ''Some aromas are quite pungent.''

''Like this one?'' Nami said and puffed a small amount of the perfume at her and Chopper's direction.

''Hey, cut it out!'' Chopper shrieked and i decided to help the poor guy out as i saw that Daxter was already convulsing. I set my finger in his forehead where he looked at me face with confusion. There was a sudden Cold Wind around us that dispersed the perfume after a short moment.

''Better?'' I asked the bewildered Chopper who gave a nod and stood up.

''Cool, how'd you did that?'' Chopper asked and i held three fingers in front of him.

''I currently have three affinities for three different elements them being Fire, Lightning and Wind. The Fire being my primary affinity and Lightning second, but the Wind is a bit weaker in my arsenal, so i have my sword boost it a bit. Not by power, but in potency to inflict dangerous cold wounds, but don't you worry about that. I just used a small portion to dissipate the perfume and cool you down a bit.'' I tapped his large hat with a smile and stood up. ''Anyway, do we have all the stuff we need?''

''Yeah, i got them alright.'' Sanji nodded and lit his cigarette and i turned to Vivi.

''Was it Yuba that were heading next?''

''Yes, that's right. But to get there we have to cross the desert. It may prove a more formidable journey than any of you can imagine. You can never be sure what will happen. One wrong step, and nothing can guarantee your life out on that land of scorching heat. I still have worried about taking everyone through suck a place, but... i want to restore peace to this land.'' She looked at us once more. ''So, i would like to make another request. Everyone. Please lend me all of your strenght!'' She said with determination. ''Please...''

''About damn time you said that.'' I told her and set my hand on her shoulder. ''I'm sure that took quite a lot to ask help. Guess your not the little girl i had to babysit anymore. First my birds and now you. They grow up so fast.'' I joked with her and wiped an imaginary tear from my eye elicting a small giggle.

Nami showed her a thumbs up. ''We've been waiting for you to say that, Vivi. Besides, not knowing what's gonna happen is something i specialize in.''

''I'm looking forward to seeing the desert.'' Chopper said to me and i grinned at him.

''Alright, guys! Raise your spirits, we're headin' to Yuba!'' We all shouted 'Aye!' at Usopp's announcement with our bandaged arms held high. ''Aren't we missing someone?''

''Luffy!'' We all shouted in exapperation. ''That numbskull!''

''We'll it can't be helped.'' I sighed and was aproached by Nami.

''Didn't you see anything while you were gone?''

''Nope, i could even bet that he's out of the town.''

''I wouldn't be surprised.'' Usopp mused. ''We should go together and look for Luffy while Vivi stays here.'' Sanji volunteered for that and i stretched my legs a bit.

''Be my guest. I'll go for a look-out through the rooftops and see the various restaraunts around the place. He's bound to be there.'' I got nod from Zoro as he took the others and were off in their own direction, but turned back to me.

''You sure you won't be seen in the rooftops? You still have a bounty on you head.''

I waved my hands at him. ''Don't worry about that. I might not look like it, but where i come from, my stealth was second to none so a few measly marines and bounty hunters around won't be a problem.'' It was mostly true as i rocked the hiding and tag games to sneak up on people. I also had to sometimes avoid the school bullies during brakes, but that's all in the past. _''Though, that is in my age groupfor the moment.''_

''You were that good?'' Chopper said in amazement the second time today. ''That's so cool!''

''Yup, enough talking. How about you guys search for the closest area here while i sweep the furthers near the docks.'' After i got nod, i jumped to the rooftops and began to search our wayward Captain.

**[To Be Continued]**

What? I haven't updated in three days? Well i guess its part your fault, but meh... the special chapter has to wait after a rigorous brainstorm of mine, so there. I know some have expected to see Ace stomping around like the he owns the damn place, but that remains to be seen in the next chapter.

I know that this chapter is kinda boring and all, but i was busy lately and stressed so the only 'object' for my ire was this. And that i'm tired.

So yeah, a little bit of info about the comings and something along the line of the cannon here. Next one will be about lolz and lmao.

- Until then ya'll!


	24. Siblings Mayhem

**Chapter 24: Sibling Mayhem.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Katorea rooftops, Ezekiel's POV]

''You sure as hell know how to choose a leader.'' Daxter said to me beneat the hood i was wearing as i strutted on rooftops.

''Shut the trap and focus on finding Luffy. I got a bad feeling about all of this.'' Just then i heard some rambling around and there was Luffy also running on top of the rooftops. This time he was being chased by a snake-looking white smoke. ''Not him.'' Sighing, i went after him and craftly pulled him down from the rooftop in an alley in between two buildings without Smoker noticing. ''Jeez, your just like a little child that causes troubles when ever he wants''

He looked at me for a moment and grinned. ''Ezekiel, what are you doing here? Cool costume!'' I didn't have time to answer him as a pillar of smoke was shot at us. Dodging it, me and Luffy began to run into the opposite direction where the Captain was about to run.

''I think i just got lucky today, Straw Hat and Ezekiel Vane.'' I heard Smoker mutter and chased after us. Patting my head, i saw that my hoodie wasn't covering where my face and Daxter was revelead to the world once more with the latter holding on to my neck for dear life.

After a few minutes of running, more marines were after us and we couldn't turn around to dispatch them as Smoker was also with them. ''Halt, Straw Hat! Dark Mage!'' They yelled with swords held high.

''IT'S YOU!'' I heard few noises somewhere nearby and saw that the rest of our crew where also there looking at us.

''Yo, Zoro!'' Luffy shouted at them. ''Whoa, everyone's over there!''

I decided to reduce the numbers that were after us and planted few Explosive Tags on the ground. The marines didn't seem to notice as they were blown all around the district we were running. As me and Luffy kept running, the others were right behind us and i slowed my pace a notch.

''You damn morons!'' The crew shouted at us.

''Halt! You won't escape!'' The marines were resiliant and quickly stood up with soot covering their uniform.

''Everyone fall back!'' Came Smoker's gruff voice. ''Their both mine!''

''Ah! He's caught up to us!'' Daxter screamed at my ear.

''White Blow!'' Smoker shouted and threw a fist full of smoke at our direction. Uncovering my left eye, i went into fast four hand seal and held it in the Tiger seal.

''Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu!)'' I released a huge fireball at the white smoke that slowed it down, but still got trough the ball of fire. Smoker seemed to put more force to it as i first thought and i was about to shield myself from the oncoming attack.

''Kagerou! (Heat Haze!)'' Another voice came and i saw a long stream of fire intersepted the smoke. Shielding my face from the excess heat that was slowly dissipating, i saw a man, about couple of years older than me with black shorts and orange hat. ''You may be smoke, but i am fire. With our abilities, a fight would be pointless'' Ace said as he looked at me. ''Sorry to interrupt here, thought you'd need a little help.''

At that moment, i was about to slice the guy in ribbons, but held against it and glared at him. ''I had the situation under control.'' Well, i didn't, but i could've stalled Smoker until the others left the scene. Just then, i spotted something fast coming and was about to hit Ace in the exposed chest. Deciding to even the favor here, i grabbed what seemed to be a Kairoseki tipped spear. Grabbing the spear and pulling it with a jolt, i delivered a kick to the assailants... breasts? ''The hell...''

''Ouch, you sure pack a kick.'' A girl about the age of 16 said with the same skin color as mine, but this one had amethyst colored eyes. She had the standard marine attire, but with a high collar and the blue cloth as a bandada that covered her shoulder lenght hair made into a pony-tail. ''About time i found you!'' She pointed an accusing finger at me as i still held the spear she tried to stab Luffy's foster brother.

''Do i know you?'' At this point Luffy and Ace already made their catching ups and were looking at us. I briefly saw that Daxter went to the duck Carue to hitch a ride and give me a wide berth in case of a fight.

''How can't you remember me! I'm your dear sister!'' She yelled at me and the area was deathly silent and the only noise that came what the eerie wind blowing. Even the marines and the pirates including Smoker and Ace were silent for the longest time and were looking at us.

''...''

''WHAT!'' Everyone yelled and i was just speechless.

''I just said that i'm his sister, so no need to act surprised.'' She must've confuse me to someone else, but either way, she could definitely pass as my sister back home.

''Ezekiel-San has a sister?'' I heard Vivi say behind me. ''They kinda look the same though.''

''Cool! Another mystery-eyes!'' Luffy cheered.

I pointed the spear at her with a angry glare. ''You're _not_ my sister! You _can't_ be my sister!'' I snarled at her. ''I don't even know you!''

''Oh really? Maybe this will help.'' At first i was confused once again, but when se made those same hand seal i usually wave got me majorly surprised and on guard. ''Doton: Doryūsō! (Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!)''

''Shit.'' I said and pushed the Fire Fist and myself out of the way before we would've been skewered into shish-kebabs by the earth spears that came beneath us. The attack though was mostly directed at me and i began doing back flips to dodge the onslaught until it stopped after few quick manuveurs. ''A Doton (Earth Release) user?'' I didn't notice that i landed beside the supply carrying Sanji.

''Guessed right, no one can top that!'' She boasted and was interrogated by Smoker about those abilities of hers. ''Dunno, i had them all my life.''

Smiling a bit, i turned to the rest of my nakamas. ''Guys, listen. I need to sort things out here, i'll catch up with you later.'' I turned back to the other Ninjutsu-user. ''I need to teach this brat here a thing or two about how true Elemental Manipulation works.''

''Yosh! Let's go!'' Luffy shouted and made a run for it.

''Luffy-San, can they handle the marines?'' I heard Vivi shout from a small distance away.

''They'll manage.'' Luffy told them after explaining his relation with Ace being his brother.

''I don't get it. Why did you help Straw Hat?'' Smoker inquired after he interrogated the Doton-user here.

''Having a younger brother who's a bit on the slow side makes his older brother worry.'' Ace told him and i saw that the marinette was nodding.

''The same goes for me, except its the little ones looking after the olders.'' She sighed.

''Your not my sister. Were not even remotely related!'' I saw she was scowling at me, which i glared right back at her.

''Oi! How come you have those and i don't!'' She refered to my Sharingan eyes.

''Move! Portgas D. Ace! Ezekiel Vane!'' Smoker said to us as Ace was powering up the flames around him.

''I don't think so.'' Ace looked at me as the flames were slowly engulfing the place. ''It might get a little hot in here. Hope you brought some sun lotion.'' He joked with me and i glared at him.

''Cut the crap and let's get this behind us.'' I snarled at him. That attitude of his just made me want to rip his eyes out.

''Who would've thought someone like you would be Straw Hat's brother.'' Smoker said and looked at the young girl. ''And to share some of his traits...'' He mused and looked back at me and Ace.

I ignored him and looked at the spear. ''You know that you didn't have to stop the spear for me.'' Ace said to me as i inspected it. I showed him the tip of the spear and smirked.

''It's tipped with Kairoseki (Seastone), so you should be grateful for once in your life.'' I then sealed it in my wristband for further use for myself after his surprised gaze.

''How did you do that!'' The girl shouted at me and i raised an eyebrow at her direction.

''You have access to your Chakra, but can't do something simple as this?''

''Of course i can!'' She fumed but looked away mumbling something. After that she pointed her finger at me the second time. ''Teach me!''

''The hell i will!'' I shouted back and saw that Ace was powering the flames a few notch more as was Smoker with the smokes. _''Okay, we have a Doton-user here. Which means Raiton should do this time.''_ A few quick seals later, i held my palm towards the ground where the azure Lightning was being charged.

''You have _two_ Affinities!'' She cried at me. ''You have to teach me those!'' And jumped up and down.

''Shelly, he's our enemy and i doubt as a pirate and you being marine helps alot in here.'' Smoker reprimanded to the now identified Shelly as white smoke danced in his both arms. I decided to up the game also and put the ball of Chidori between my palms and set them apart. There was now another ball of the chirping Lightning connected by a line of bluish Lightning.

''So were playing this game again, huh?'' Shelly said as she finished her sequence of hand seals.

''Enkai! (Flame Commandment!)'' Ace shouted as the fire began to sprout around him and i wisely took quite a small distance away from him.

''White Spark!'' Smoker shouted and dashed at the two of us in a huge line of smoke.

''Doton: Doro Hōshi! (Earth Release: Mud Spore!)'' Shelly shouted as she summoned a river of mud at us with Smokers attack. It was actually a powerful one and the proof being that she made those in a hot desert enviroment.

''Chidori Dai Nagashi! (One Thousand Birds Great Current!)'' I shouted and released a more powerful version of the normal Jutsu to even the two Logia-users powers and one powerful Elemental one. The attacks were mixed in a huge tornado of Fire, Smoke, Mud and Lightning.

[With the Others, General POV]

''W-what's that?'' A localist stammered as the huge tornado swirled towards up. ''A fire!'' ''No, that's no ordinary fire!'' They shouted and more questions arised.

''What do you think is happening?'' Chopper inquired as the food and water carrying crew stopped to look at the mayhem.

''A battle between Fire, Smoke, Earth and Lightning?'' Usopp said.

''He said he ate the Mera Mera no Mi (Flame Flame Fruit)'' Sanji mused.

''Yeah, And Ez's doesn't have a thing for Earth so the Lightning must be his doing.'' The duck riding ottsel said.

''But Luffy, is that true? Is that guy really your brother?'' Nami asked the Captain.

''Yeah, he's Ace!'' Luffy answered her and kept looking at the multi-colored tornado.

''Well i'm not surprised you have a brother, but what's he doing on the Grand Line?'' Zoro said.

''Ace is a pirate. He left our Island three years before me in search of One Piece.'' Luffy told them.

''But what about Ezekiel?'' Usopp asked and turned to Daxter. ''Does he also have siblings here on Grand Line?''

''I think you should ask him about that, bub. The guy doesn't want to talk about his past much less about his family.'' Daxter told him.

''Anyway let's hurry back to the ship. We should get out of here before they come after us.'' Nami declared.

''We shouldn't leave Ezekiel-San alone.'' Vivi tried to reason with her.

''Don't worry about him too much. He said he'll handle it and he does it.'' Luffy told her and sped up with the rest of the crew as a huge noise of birds ringed around the town and engulfed most of the Element tornado. Running backwards the Captain grinned. ''But i never thought i'd meet Ace and Ezekiel's sister in a place like this. Do you guys think she'll join with us?'' He asked the crew, but was ignored as the road in front of them spilts up and ran to the left with the Captain running in a different direction, while still running backwards looking at the huge cloud of dust.

[With Ezekiel and Ace, Ezekiel's POV]

_''That thing sure did a number on this place.''_ I though to myself as me and Ace escaped the area after i managed to knock Shelly out. _''It really should surprise me anymore. Weird shit like this is should've happened sooner or later so why not now.''_

''The last part wasn't really necessary you know.'' Ace tried to converse with me as we kept running. I guessed he meant me powering the Jutsu of mine.

''Well i'm sorry if i'm not a Logia-user like you and Smokey there and don't have an unlimited power in one Element department!.'' I narrowed my eyes at his questioning glance.

''That wasn't a Devil Fruit Power?'' I nodded at him. ''And the girl can also do that stuff you did?'' Another nod from my part. ''And you two are related?''

''No, the only thing we share is the skin and hair color. Nothing more.'' Just then, i felt a small but noticable pulse in a alley and went there while keeping my Sharingan in my right eye active.

''What are you doing?'' Ace questioned me and i plainly ignored the Fire Fist behind me as i crouched down and removed a small illusional barrier that hid something from normal peoples eyes. Putting my hands in a Ram seal, i said a small 'Kai' and there appeared a small chest. Opening the chest, i grabbed what looked like a old leather book. ''What is that?''

I had a tick mark on my forehead from his constant questions. _''God...''_ Shaking my head, i looked at the book. _''So someone hide this with a Genjutsu eh? Seems they didn't plan for me to detect it.''_ I shrugged and also sealed the book in my wristband. Moving on, we decided to track along the rooftops as to escape from prying eyes of the marines and saw something that made me facepalm.

''Jeez, you don't look like you're even _trying _to escape.'' Ace said to Luffy who was sitting on a barrel he was assigned to carry. The rubberman looked up and saw the both of us standing. ''Yo.''

''Ace. Ezekiel.'' Luffy grinned at us and we jumped from our position and landed in front of him.

''Long time no see, Luffy.'' Ace properly greeted his brother this time and i leaned against a building to let the two brothers catch up. Their 'catching up' was a good old arm wrestling with the barrel under their elbows and i chuckled at them until the barrel gave away.

''I guess we're both still the same.'' Luffy said and made that brotherly hand shake with Ace. ''Sure brings back memories.''

''Ain't that cute, Luffy.'' I aproached them. ''We should head out, the others are probably worried sick.''

''Yeah, in a minute.'' I nodded at his answer and started to stretch my arms while listening on their conversation. ''What are you doing in this country, Ace?''

''Huh? What? Didn't you get my message in Drum?'' Ace asked. ''Well, nevermind. It wasn't anything inportant. I have some minor business to take care of in this part of the ocean. I figured i'd try to meet up with you.''

''Minor business?'' Luffy questioned as Ace drank his bottle of water and threw it at my direction with a nod. Shrugging once again, i drank the refreshing water after the generous usage of Chakra today.

''I'm with the Whitebeard Pirates now.'' Ace declared.

''Newgate's sons?'' I said and threw the bottle to Luffy.

''Oh, you've heard of him?'' Ace turned towards me with sarcasm.

''I might.'' I yawned and ignored his sarcastic remark. ''That tattoo on your back didn't help me to recognize your affiliations.'' I said and added my own sarcastic remark.

''How about joining the Whitebeard Pirates?'' Ace asked us as i helped Luffy that was choking on the water. ''Your nakama too, of course.''

''No.'' Came the simple reply from the Captain.

''Hahahahaha. Yeah, thought so. just thought i'd ask.'' Ace said after laughing a bit at the way his brother thinks... simple as always. ''Whitebeard is the greatest pirate i've ever known. I've decided to make that man the Pirate King. Not you, Luffy.''

I grinned at him. ''Guess that makes us rivals.''

He shurgged at me and that made me scowl at him. ''Whatever, its not like you guys are any challenge to him.''

''So what? It's just one more person i'll have to fight.'' Luffy grinned at his brother. ''_I'm_ going to be the Pirate King.'' I laughed at him as he drank Ace's bottle empty.

''Hey, don't hog it all, Luffy!''

The Captain ignored his brother and looked at me. ''Was the girl really your sister? Does she want to join our crew?''

I sighed at those questions and had a feeling that more is coming. ''No, and yes i doubt she'll just turn from the marinesand go for piracy. Either way, she possess the same abilities as mine but with a different Element.''

''There are more?'' Ace asked me this time about the Elements.

''Yeah, Five are the main ones, but for all i know there could be more.'' I bluntly replied seeing as i don't have to say anything to him. ''Anyway, let's find the others...'' I turned to Luffy with a serious face. ''Now. If the marines catch up with them, it'll get pretty troublesome after that.''

''Maybe they've gone back to the ship.''

''Which harbor did you anchor in?'' Ace asked me, after he asked Luffy who was clueless.

''It should be southeast from here, but knowing them, they already moved out since i heard a marine reveal our position not too long ago.''

''Atleast someone knows, jeez Luffy. If you're the captain of a pirate ship, remembering where _you_ docked is a given, normally.''

''Hahaha. Whatever, don't worry about it. I have full confident on Ezekiel here.'' Luffy tapped my back, hard where i just glared at him.

''So that's your name.'' Ace said the obvious. ''I saw from your poster that your my little bro's First Mate on the ship.''

''Not really. Its actually Zoro that joined first, but the marines instead put me because it was me and Luffy here that beat an Officer into a bloody pulp. Twice'' I laughed with Luffy.

''Same as always, Otouto.'' Ace mumbled to himself. ''By the way, those other nakama of yours. What kind of people are they?''

Luffy pointed his finger at me as we walked and were being observed by a bunch of weak bounty hunters. ''He's a Magician with those cool tricks of his and mystery-eyes.'' I showed Ace the left Sharingan and activated the right one.

''Cool.'' Ace nodded.

''Yeah, Ezekiel is a cool guy and we all get along with him on the ship.'' I smiled at that. ''We also have a swordsman who wants to be the greatest in the world. He always wears a haramaki (waistband).''

''We have our own navigator who likes maps, mikan and money. Presumably not in that order'' I added absentmindly while thinking about the navigator.

''And a cook that makes super-delicious food. Oh yeah, we also have a liar too.''

''We also have a awesome reindeer as a Doctor and a loud-mouth ottsel acting as our expert of technology.''

''A pretty nice variety you've got there.'' Ace said to Luffy as i saw him jerk his head towards a building where a bounty hunter lounged. I nodded at him as i was sure that Luffy wasn't as aware of them.

''Right now, we have a Princess and a spot-billed duck as nakama too. They're all really funny!'' Luffy boasted.

''Well, i bet you're the funniest one of all, is that right?'' Ace said and looked at me for confirmation.

''Mostly yeah, but there are others in that mix too.''

Ace looked towards the sky. ''It's just like you Luffy to run a small pirate crew.''

''All we need now is a Musician.'' Luffy smiled.

''The more the merrier.'' I also smiled, but it faded away as the bounty hunters came from their hiding spots.

''Stop right there, Fire Fist Ace.'' We stopped and the bounty hunters circled around us as we acted indifferently to their presence. ''As you can see, there is nowhere to run.'' A huge man with a unibrow said. ''Fire Fist Ace, your head is ours. Prepare to die!''

[Going Merry, General POV]

''Are you sure about this?'' Chopper asked the navigator. ''Setting sail without Luffy and Ezekiel-Nii?''

Nami turned to Chopper with a smile. ''The marines will be swarming the harbor pretty soon. We have to hide the ship somewhere.''

''There should be a cove up ahead where we'll be hidden from sight.'' Vivi said and pointed at the hideout.

''So we'll wait for things to cool down, and then look for the two.'' Sanji exclaimed while crossing his arms.

''Geez, we always, _always_ have to run around because of him.'' Usopp sighed in exapperation.

''He's a _real_ reliable Captain alright.'' Zoro mimicked him and turned to the crew. ''Let's just hope that Ezekiel finds him and searches for us here.''

''Are you guys also freaked out?'' Usopp asked after a long silence. ''That Ezekiel has a sister.''

''Well, he never said that he had any so there is a room for error.'' Sanji told himwhile lighting his cigarette.

''They had different eyes...'' Chopper thought aloud and got curious glances. ''Ezekiel-Nii's eyes are coal black while his sister had purple. Beside those traits, they do look the same.''

''But why did Ezek-kun denied her being his sister?'' Nami questioned the crew.

''He has his reasons.'' Daxter told her and went back to sloutch.

[Katorea Alley, Ezekiel's POV]

There were currently dozens upon dozens of bounty hunters surrounding us with various guns and swords directed towards us.

''Fire Fist Ace.'' The huge man said as if his infatuated with Ace. ''Your Devil's luck ends here.''

One of them seemed to have an epiphany. ''Hey, you don't suppose... is this other guy... Straw Hat Luffy?'' A man with a pointy hair said.

''Now that you mentioned it. The 39,000,000 Beli bounty!'' A bearded man said that kinda reminded me of Broggy.

''Yeah, and the other guy must be his First mate, Ezekiel the Dark Magician. 30,000,000 Beli bounty!'' Another shouted and the supposed 'fan' of Ace raised an eyebrow... both brows.

''We're freakin' lucky today! Fire Fist Ace, Straw Hat Luffy and Ezekiel the Dark Mage! When we have your heads, we'll be promoted ten times over!''

We plainly ignored their shouting and walked past their leader. ''Anyway, let's go find your ship.'' Ace said as we ignored the bounty hunters.

''Let's try the beaches first if we get any clue about their whereabouts.'' I told him and got two nods from the brothers.

''Sounds like a plan to me.'' Luffy said.

The two flunkies started to shout at us while the leader looked at us murderously. ''Making fools of us! KILL THEM!'' I head him say as a lot of footsteps were closing in on us.

I uncovered my left eye once more and managed to hypnotise a bunch that were about to attack me, but the once that were behind the hypnotised ones attacked me. ''Weaklings.'' One of them tried to slice me with a sword where i side stepped it and grabbed his chin where i twisted his head with a pleasuring 'crack'. Another two hesitantly aproached me and i grabbed his outstretched arm. Pulling it forward and twisting it so that he dropped to his knees, i manage to break the whole arm of his from the elbow with my knee.

The screams were getting to me while the whisperings in my head were loud for me to grab two bounty huntes faces and ram them into the ground. I then saw something on the ground that got my attention as the hostile men took their distance because of my eyes. There was a japanese sugegasa hat that was just perfect for this kind of temperature. Master used to wear this back when i was a kid and i thought it was cool. Strapping it into my red sash on my waist, i smiled despite the situation i was at the moment.

Looking up, i saw Luffy deflecting bunch of bullets that were shot at him, back to where they came from. The leader got a small scar in his cheek by the missed bullet and went berserk. As he tried to slash Luffy with his sword, Ace manage to grab it. ''Not so fast.''

Summoning my tanto from my wrist, i slashed an 'X' on his chest the second he let go of the heated sword and looked at Luffy who had his arms stretched back. ''X marks the spot, Luffy.''

He gave me a nod and began to shout. ''Gomu Gomu no...''' He slammed his both hands into the leaders chest, sending him flying. ''...Bazooka!''

Shrugging, we resumed our slow walk without a care. ''D-Don't hesitate! The rank of Number Agent is on the line!'' Some cannon fodder yelled.

Ignoring them once again, we saw a wide ocean and i began to look around to see our nakamas. ''See your ship?'' Ace asked.

''You won't escape!'' The bounty hunters found us.

''You guys don't know when to quit.'' An exapperated Ace said and i could agree with him.

''Ah, it's over there!'' Luffy shouted. I looked to confirm it and saw the Going Merry in the distance. ''Oi! I'm over here! Guys!''

''Oi, Luffy. Go on...'' Ace said but saw that Luffy jumped over a ledge and wasn't listening.

[Going Merry, General POV]

Nami was now at the crows nest looking over the remaining crew members with binoculars. ''Ah, there he is! It's Luffy!'' Nami shouted to the crew. ''I see Luffy!''

''Is Ezekiel with him?'' Zoro asked and looked up.

''Yeah, he's with Luffy's brother.'' She confirmed him as she saw the First Mate conversing with Ace and beating up the bounty hunters.

Usopp was also looking at themwith his own binoculars. ''Yeah, that's definitely Luffy. With that dumb look on his face.'' He then saw Luffy stretch his arm and grab the rail of the ship where he flung over to them. Knocking Sanji and Chopper with him. ''I'm back!''

''Sanji-San! Tony-Kun!'' Vivi shouted and looked at the pile of two humans and a reindeer in worry.

''Hey, now...'' Usopp stammered.

''Not again.'' Zoro facepalmed and was thinking why he joined this pirate crew again.

''Hahaha. Sorry about that, Sanji, Chopper.'' Luffy apologized and Nami climbed down to the deck.

The navigator looked around and didn't see the other member. ''Where's Ezek-Kun?''

''Oh, he stayed, saying that he'll be here in a minute'' Luffy told her.

[Katorea Harbor, Ezekiel's POV]

After pummeling the bounty hunters into the ground, we walked where Ace hide his one-man boat called Striker. It was a yellow half-cresent shaped raft with a engine in the back and two paddle-wheels on the sides.

I whistled at it. ''Nice, and that works with your Devil Fruit-ability?''

''Yup, though its a one-man boat so its a no-no for you.'' Ace said as he jumped on his Striker boat and sailed a bit further away. ''I'll call for Luffy to get you.''

Rolling my eyes, i water-walked to him and smirked at his dumb-founded expression. ''Thank you for your consern, but it isn't necessary.'' That said, i took a steady stance and started to ski towards our ship with Ace catching up to me.

''I'm slowly starting to believe in Magic.'' I heard Ace mumble as i sped up a bit to get some distance from him. We arrived just in time to see Luffy declare that he can beat Ace anyday if they were to fight. ''And just who can you beat?'' Ace said as he jumped on the rail where Luffy occupied.

''Oh, Ace!'' I heard Luffy say as i also jumped on the rail and casually waved at the crew. ''These are the nakama i was telling you about.'' Stretching a bit, i walked to the gallery to get something to drink as the others presented themselves.

''God, i hate the guy...'' I said to myself as Daxter jumped on my shoulder.

''How come?''

Drinking my self-made ice-tea, i looked at the curious ottsel. ''The guy means trouble and you know what i think about troubles if it can't be avoided. Unless your Luffy, of course.''

''You sound a bit hypocrite to me.'' Daxter deadpanned at me.

''Call it whatever you want, it really doesn't change my opinion on him.'' There was a huge explosion going around and the ship rocking a bit. I could even feel the ships temperature rising a bit like if i was in a sauna. ''That guy, no finesse.'' I shook my head. Had it been me, i wouldn't just waste that much power on few measly bounty hunters. Looking at the silent ottsel, i asked him a question. ''Hey, what was the weird disc-shaped thing you gave me?''

He was confused at first, but grinned at me. ''Its called a Jet Board. C'mon, try it.'' I took out the small board and looked at it. ''Press the button on the middle.'' Nodding, i pressed the button and was impressed that it expanded. ''Now stand on top of it.''

Doing so, i looked at the board for a few seconds and nothing happened. ''I have a feeling that this is supposed to do something.''

The ottsel was now pulling his fur of in frustation. ''What! It had to work!'' He looked at me as i folded the Board and sealed it in my wristband. ''Yeah, i'll look at it later.'' And went to get drunk with the others on the deck.

Refilling my cup of cold tea, i went back to the deck to see the guys plus Ace drinking. ''This is great! Ace is our nakama! Kanpai!'' Luffy, Usopp and Chopper shouted.

''Who said i'd be your nakama?'' Ace questioned them, but was ignored and the guys made another toast for their delicious drinks. Ignoring what they said, i began to read the book i found on the alley when Nami explained to Ace that we always find a reason to toast. Leaning on the mast next to Zoro, i began my studying.

_''This looks kinda familiar...''_ I though to myself as i looked at the weird language and could've swear i saw the somewhere. _''Its not like i have anything better to do.''_ As much as i read it, i couldn't remember it and had to use my Sharingan to help me memorise them. I briefly looked what the guys were up to and shrugged when Ace said that he'll accompany us to Yuba while looking for Blackbeard. _''I should probably keep my mouth shut, don't wanna influence the storyline too much as it is now. The girl... Shellfish or whatever was enough already.''_

Part of me was worried that there were other Ninjutsu-users around to act as a threat, but there was also exitement and eagerness that i can finally fight someone on equal ground. I now noticed that Zoro was looking at what i was reading.

''What's that?'' He pointed at the leather book.

''This here?'' I showed him a weird symbol where he nodded. ''Is something i'm trying to decipher, it shouldn't take too long though and looks intresting.''

''Looks like you'll be traveling with us for a little while'' I heard Nami said after Zoro and Sanji went into another bickerings.

''With you along, this'll be a cinch!'' Luffy said as he held his pint of water. ''Let's make it a fun trip, Ace!'' I was still reading my mystery-book when Luffy adressed me. ''Oi, Ezekiel! Were about to make a toast for Ace!'' I blinked at his direction and wondered how many time the guy has to toast, but shrugged when Chopper handed me my own drink while he stood on a crate.

''Aye!'' We all shouted and headed to Erumalu or whatever it was called.

**[To Be Continued]**

Yup, there will be more of these ones alright. More answers though, will be revealed later on and i have a distinct feeling that Ace's fangirls start to rip my throat open... or not. I'm still thinking on my OWN filler chapter here and was plotting that should i add Ace in it or not. Though there won't be any fights, but... something else i hope.

And no, she's not his sister. She's a bit... delusional and may or may not have a major impact on this story. Who knows? I certainly do.

Anywho, i'd like to thank those who fave'd my story and hug those that made the effort to review as they help me to improve. I just want to gather the suspence here until i start to unveil it for you, only for more to come. I hope you enjoyed reading and let's hope i get the next chapter done today since i got the... **flu**! So, no school for me and it just so happens to be monday and i'm bored as hell here.

Question of the week; Should there be a Ace bashing chapter or a _minor_ Ace bashing chapter?


	25. Dead Man's Last Wish

**Chapter 25: Dead Man's Last Wish.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Going Merry, Ezekiel's POV]

After our kanpai, i was lounging with Sanji, Ace, Luffy and Usopp in the gallery. The latter two dumbasses playing with the huge amount of Onigiri's Sanji made for our guest. It was hilarious, but it had to end after Sanji reprimanded them about not playing with the food. I ignored the rest as i scribbled my own desing of Fuuinjutsu i was currently working on.

It was pretty damn difficult and took a lot of time, ink and blood from my part. Not to mention money as this place doesn't sell much of ink to begin with... but back to now. The scroll was about the size of a babys arm rolled over in the table and it was designed to keep my containtments cooled, which in this case would be water.

''Ha-ha~!'' I shouted in joy. ''I did it!'' I shouted and after several minutes and cried in joy. ''After 2 months, its finally done!'' Wiping the tears in my eye and checking the seal once more to see if its ready.

''What is done?'' Ace asked me after he offered Sanji his assistance to clean the dishes, but was told that as a guest its not necessary.

I was by now too happy to even care that the Fire Fist was acting all friendly to me now. ''My very own signature Fuuinjutsu, see, look!'' I held the scribbles i wrote in front of him.

''What's that supposed to do?'' Sanji asked me after beating Luffy and Usopp for washing the dishes with dirty rags i normally use to clean the deck.

I held my empty water bottle at him. ''Would you mind filling this up for me?'' I asked him. The cook was confused, but made the effort to fill it and handed the bottle back to me. ''Now, let's see...'' I muttered and placed the water bottle in the middle of the huge kanji for 'Cool' connected by 5 more kanjis for 'Containment' and stood up from my bench. _''There's no room for error here.''_ I though as i went through a long sand seal sequence that ended with a hand clap.

*Poof*

The bottle vanished and i looked closer at it and smiled as one of the 'Containment' kanji changed from black to blue that reminded me of Choppers nose.

''Thats it? Isn't that what you usually do?'' Usopp said after a silent moment.

''Impressive.'' I heard Ace say as he never saw me seal an equipment into a scroll, probably thinking it was a Magic Trick of mine.

Ignoring the rest, i took out 4 more of the bottles and filled them with water. After that, i did the same for them too and rolled the scroll. ''There, anymore of those and i might as well use this as a grenade.'' I wiped the sweat from my forehead. I decided to clear the guys who looked at the unrolled scroll. ''This works like our refrigerator there and the supplies i store in here stay cooled in a cold pocket dimension.'' I scratched my head in embarrasement. ''Though thats all i can carry for now. Beside that, i'd say thats something that even seal the average Seal Masters might have problem figuring since this kinda works like physics and math back home.'' I tried to lift my mood.

''That sounds good. We could use them to keep Luffy away from the food.'' Sanji said as he lighted a smoke and pointed at the scroll.

Luffy went to the scroll and started poking it. ''It doesn't look special to me.'' He said bluntly and my confidence dropped where i went to the corner to mope of the gallery and drew circles on the floor with my finger.

''Its not so bad. I'm sure it has its uses.'' Ace said, trying to lift up my mood this time. After i brooded my time in the corner, i made a clone to do the dishes and went outside to see Zoro training with weights.

''Shouldn't you be training too?'' He asked me as he swung the weight, much to Choppers delight as it cooled him up.

''I already made my regime yesterday and i'm resting for now.'' I replied and looked at Carue balancing at the ships rail. ''That looks cool.'' The duck quacked at me and i smiled at it. ''Oh your training too?'' He nodded and i started to stretch a bit and took off my wristband with the strorage seals on it. Summoning them all of i looked at my inventory that i had on me now. ''Let's see,12 Kunais, 24 Shurikens, 3 Fuuma (Windmill) Shuriken, 4 Exploding tags, 30 metre long wire, Katana, Tanto, Jet Board and few books to last me through nights.'' I proubly said and patted my larger scroll containing mine and the guys spare clothes.

Looking down, there was the Kairoseki tipped spear that my supposed sister tried to stab Ace and decided to take that too.

''Quack!'' Carue said beside me.

''I know, that could come in handy.'' It was then, i jerked my head and looked at Carue. ''Since when can i understand what your saying?'' The duck seemed to shrug and i guessed it also didn't have a clue.

''Carue!'' Vivi suddenly said as i strapped the scroll to my waist sash with the sugegasa hat at my right side and the Katana and Tanto to my left.

As we anchored the ship nearby, we all went to see Vivi handing a letter to Carue. ''Carue, I want you to go alone to the Alubarna Palace and deliver this letter to my father. I have written everything Igaram and i uncovered about Crocodile and his Baroque Works conspiracy as well as confirming that i am alive and have brought strong-willed nakama with me.'' I saw the duck was hesitant. Not that i blame him, running through the dangerous desert all by yourself. ''Can you do it?'' The duck gave his 'quack' of affirmative as Vivi placed the letter under Carues robe. ''Listen. Be sure to ration your water while you're crossing the desert, okay?''

''Alright! Give it your best shot!'' Luffy cheered at Carue.

I went to the duck and patted its head. ''Here, maybe this will help a little.'' I took the sugegasa hat and strapped it on his head. As i looked at it, the damn hat was bigger than i thought and fitted the duck. _''Must be the desert.''_ I inwardly mused and got a apreciative smile from Vivi which i returned.

''Please go tell my father that this Kingdom is going to be saved!'' Vivi told the duck as he quacked at us and dashed away only to stop for a moment to drink the water and resume his path. ''I said to ration your water!'' Vivi shouted one last time.

''I wish i had my own duck, i would've called it Donald, Donald the Ducky Duck.'' I chuckled to myself and jumped back to the ship.

''Alright! Let's set sail!'' Luffy announced with his arms in the air.

''Hey, i'm not onboard yet!'' I heard Usopp shout and helped the guy to get on the ship before we forgot about him. ''Thanks.''

Nodding, i went to the front of the ship to lean on the rail and read my mystery-book when Daxter sat next to me on the rail. ''There you are, i was about to ask if you want to come with us?'' I asked the ottsel.

He thought about that for a moment until he shrugged. ''Nah, i'll stay here. Knowing you guys, theres always trouble here and there.'' He then smirked at me. ''And you know what i think about troubles.''

Chuckling a bit, i closed the book. ''So, what are you going to do 'till then?''

''Dunno, probably try to come up with cool new gadgets for you.'' He then fixed me with a glare. ''Be careful out there, something tells me that some weird stuff is going to happen.''

''I'm touched. You know i can take care of myself and the others here, so loosen up. I got this.'' He sighed once more and went to the cabin.

''Just don't get yourself killed.'' I heard him mutter behind me.

''Will do...'' And closed my eyes as the Cold Wind went past my head. ''...yeah, i'll watch out for you guys too...'' I said and tapped my Katana and Tanto.

''We're finally here.'' I heard Luffy cheer, something he did alot lately as i went to see the commontion.

''We're finally gonna walk on the desert! Must be pretty hot...'' Chopper said as i briefly heard Vivi say about the temperature being 50 degrees celsius during the day.

''Ezek-kun, mine and Vivi's clothes are ready to go.'' Nami told me when i remembered that i asked her to set the clothes on top of the scroll in their cabin for our departure. Nodding to her, i went to seal them so we can finally leave. Folding the scroll up and strapping it to my back, i jumped a bit to see that it didn't fall and nodded. Walking up to the mirror and taking a look at my left eye, i took a step back from what i saw.

''The hell...'' I just lost the extra tomoe that was in my left eye a mere hours ago. Activating and sighing in relief that there was still the two tomoes in each eye, i decided to look more to it next time i'm on my 'Mindscape'. Currently i had my wristband back in my right arm and the 3 scrolls with me. Walking up to the deck and seeing a battered and beated Usopp surrounded what seemed like a mix of a turtle and dugongs.

After Luffy went there and beat the crap out of all the Kung fu Dugongs, as Vivi explained to us and said that they now see Luffy as their Master. Watching Luffy teach them in 'martial arts' brought a small sad smile and a lot of nostalgia back to me.

Feeling someone shake me out of my reminiscent mind i saw Nami with a worried expression. ''Are you alright?'' Looking around and seeing the crew with the same worried gaze i smiled at them.

''I'm fine. Just thinking back at the old-times.'' She nodded when Chopper asked me another question.

''What about you eye?''

Reaching out and rubbing my now exposed left eye from the blindness of the sun, i smiled at him. ''It feels better than it did those previous days.'' I said made bowed to him just for fun. ''Thank you for tending my illness.''

''Well, i am a Doctor after all, silly. Its my duty and everything see, so stop thanking me. It doesn't make me feel happy you idiot.'' Chopper said and made the usual funny dance that made me chuckle.

''Yosh! We're headin' to Yuba!'' I heard Luffy shout as we unboarded the Going Merry. Though, there seemed to be a slight problem.

''Wait a second.'' Zoro began and turned to Luffy. ''You're gonna take them along!'' He shouted at the Captain and his line of Kung fu Dugongs.

''You can't, Luffy!'' Nami reprimanded him like a child that he is.

''These Dugongs couldn't possibly cross the desert.'' Vivi added but seeing the Dugong clung to Luffy to not leave them got the two girls hesitate and mutter something about 'cuteness'.

''Where's Daxter?'' I heard Usopp ask me.

''He said he'll stay at the ship.'' I shrugged. ''Can't blame him though, we're already on someones Death List, no need to add more body counts on the long list.'' Usopp flinched and backed away from me while i laughed at the liar.

I then noticed that Chopper tried to bribe the Dugongs to stay put, only for them to take the food with our Doctor and few of our bags. After that, it went normally and Luffys disciples stayed to protect our ship and my sidekick for the time being.

''SEE YAAA!'' Luffy waved at the dugongs who had their mouths full of meat and tears falling down their eyes.

''Listen, Luffy!'' Nami began. ''Do you understand the situation we're in?'' She was, of course, ignored byt the Captain and got her fist in his head from it.

We walked after that for a few dozens minutes with me showing the Jet Board to Usopp who was amazed by the thing, even though it didn't work and i kinda regretted not giving it to the ottsel. He could've fixed it more.

Eventually, we got into one of those huge dunes right next to where the Green City Erumalu was supposed to be. What awaited us was just a sand-filled city with ruins and no life in sight.

''Is this Yuba?'' Zoro asked as Vivi gazed at the former city in shock.

''Seems more like a wasteland to me.'' I also said while Vivi told us it was actually Erumalu.

''Looking at this city, you can understand just how much the Baroque Works organization has done to this country.'' She said with sadness laced in her voice. ''And just how much Arabasta's people are suffering.''

Walking forward and seeing a huge tower that here that by miracle stood here, i walked along the walls to get a better look around the sand and ruins. Seeing nothing intresting and jumping yet to another tower where i saw something shiny once more. Deciding this time to see it clearly, i was greeted by the same orb i keep stubling aroud lately. This one being the colour of sandy-yellow with a X-mark on the middle to probably open the thing. Carefully touching it as to not fuse with the damned thing and seeing as it was harmless i took it with me in my wristband seal.

Exploring more, i saw a two-storied house that was accessible from a window that had an empty room on it. Making my way to the half buried under houses top window, i came across, what i imagined a child's room would look like aside that its floor was covered in a mix of dust and sand.

There was enough sun shining around for me to look and the room gave me a homely feeling. There was also a closet in the back of the room with a kids bed to my left that had some sandy pink colored bed sheets with flower desings. ''Must be a girls room, if that and the doll here gives any hint.'' I mused to myself and grabbed a teddybear that was missing an eye and a right arm. Petting it a bit to get rid of the sand, i smiled at the teddybear. ''You must've been very lonely here.'' And set the bear down on the bed for now.

Walking to what i thought was a nightstand, there was a family photo with 4 peoples that had a light tanned skin color. The two eldest were what i though were the parents of the pair of kids, both representing the opposite sex with the girl being about 4 years older than the boy with the huge grin. What i found was fascinating was that the both kids right eyes. _''Must be something that runs in their family.''_ There was a green eye in it and the left was the average brown that the male of the parent owned, while the other came from the female. I also noticed that the parents had some weird golden necklace with a Sun symbol. ''Also something that runs in their family.''

I decided that i take the picture with me for now where i put it in my pouch and look around a bit more. Walking towards the closet i gave it a light yank, but it was tightly locked. Putting more force behind my next effort that worked, i was assaulted by a mountain of sand where i quickly took a step back. Sighing in relief that the closet was empty and there wasn't anything that would make me mad. I looked to my right and spotted an old dry door that looked as it would collapse on itself.

The door opened this time, with less force and i found myself in a hall of sorts with a stairs leading down with few decorative painting on the walls that were slowly crumbling. There was another door in front of me and i though that i should see that too. Opening it, i was greeted once more by a small avalanche of sand that i also avoided. ''Guess i wont go in there.'' I told myself and walked towards the stairs that, to my surprise, wasn't filled with sand and led down.

Taking a few cautious steps and lighting a torch i found nearby with a small Katon (Fire Release), i found myself in another hallway flanked by what i thought was the living room. I saw that there was few broken desks, benches, shattered glasses and more kids toy lying on the ground. Thankfully i had my torch or i wouldn't be able to see anything there. As i walked to the kitchen and looking at the destroyed room, i shook my head and kept looking around.

What i first noticed was the trapdoor in the floor and next to it lied a note that i though must've been slipped through the small gap next to the trapdoor. The underground passages door was weightened down by a rubble and i was momentarily afraid that someone was stuck in there.

Grabbing the note and unfolding it, i began to read it aloud. ''||-To whoever finds this letter-||'' It first began. ''||-Do know that i'm no longer alive to live the life i always wanted with my family and comrades while trapped in my own trapdoor. This letter will be my final message, to inform that the majority of Erumalu has been evacuated, beside me and 11 more that i've been searching. I doubt that they survived as i am now hiding from a fearsome sandstorm that has been spotted near Erumalu.

By now, everyone in Arabasta knows that it was all the King's fault who tore our country apart. For all my life, i always admired our King for his determination and his love for its counries citizens, but what happened here... i can't see the man in the same light i used to, by now, he's nothing more than a monster in my eyes. What saddened me was my wife, who has been stolen by the fierce sandstorm to the desert and i couldn't live with myself anymore without her by my side. My only consolationin my final minutes now is that my children survived, but i am also ashamed not to see them grow up like my father missed mine.

To the reader; For me to pass on peacefully, i request that my children get their parents necklaces that ran in my wives family for generations. I know that its too much to ask and i won't held an eternal grudge against anyone if it isn't fullfilled. Another request would be to tell my children that i love them and always will.

If you accept my last request, there should be a trapdoor that i have no choice, but to use it as my final resting place. Its ironic really, i used to think as a child that this place gives me sanctuary and always full of light, but i would've never thought that i would spend my last moments in the darkness all alone.

Even after all that, i still haven't lost my faith that my children will survive by my sacrifice. I am sure, that where ever they are, they must be happy and i can leave this plane in peace where i hopefully see my loved ones again.

P.s You'll recognize my children by their spiral shaped right green eye and the youngest being at the age ten and the eldest being fourteen.

Sincerely, Nadni Niro.-||''

_''Nadni must be his last name.''_ I though to myself for a second and stayed still reading the note again.

I was silent for a moment and sighed. Walking to the trapdoor in the floor that was designed to keep people safe and preserve food, pushed the heavy rubble away with my clone. Opening the door, i was assaulted by the heavy smell of rotten, dry air and dust. Taking a napkin from my pouch and covering my nose, i walked the tiny stairs and saw a man... or what used to be a man, seeing as this was all bones and clothes. _''Must be the guy, Niro.''_

My hands were full now as i carried a torch and the letter in my both hands. Setting the letter in my chest pocket under the robes, i crouched down and saw the man pointing his bone finger forward. Flailing my torch, the underground room was a decent sized room with shelfs of empty opened cans of preservatives. What surprised me the most was the symbol on the cans. They had the same symbols that my mystery-book had and i could read that it said 'Beans' on it.

''Weird...'' I muttered and looked at the cans until i came across a can that said 'Sun'. What intrested me was that it has a small difference in its symbol with the 'Bean'-symbol that someone who wouldn't know the language would definetely miss. ''Had i not known these symbols, i would've pegged these as bean cans too.'' Grabbing it and opening the can, i saw there was the two sun-shaped necklaces and a small diary. Smiling a bit, i went to the Niro guy and decided that the man deserves a proper burial in his chosen resting place.

It took me awhile, but the man was buried and i made a small bow with a silent moment of respect for him. As i was about to leave the building from where i came from, i looked at the teddybear lying on the bed for a moment. ''Wanna keep me a small company?'' I asked the bear with a smile and sealed it in my wristband seal.

Throwing the extinguished torch away and walking to where i though my nakamas were, i jumped on a rooftop and kept my eyes open with the necklaces in my hand. Looking at them for a moment, i decided to store them in my pouch this time until further use.

Then, out of nowhere, there was a sandstorm and screaming noises. Running to where the noise came, i saw my crew with Vivi leaning on a boney and ragged skeleton.

''Where were you?'' I heard Zoro say as he looked at my direction with the crew.

I looked at the dead person and sighed as i though this must be one of Niro's partners. ''So there are more...''

''More?'' Sanji said as he looked at my direction.

''Yeah, i went inside a building that was somewhat intact and found another skeleton, but...'' I trailed off and hung my head down.

''But what?'' Nami asked as i took the letter from my the inside of my coat.

''I found this that should explain what exactly happened here.'' I took the letter from my robe as Vivi stood up and looked at it.

''What is that?'' She asked and was about to take the letter from me, but held it away from her grasp. ''Ezekiel-san?'' She questioned me with confused face.

''Are you sure you want to read it?'' I asked her for confirmation. I was also worried how she'll take the dead mans words about her father.

The crew were mostly confused by my action and i saw that Ace undestod that it might held something that could emotionally wreck the Princess.

''What do you mean?'' She asked me again, still with the confused expression.

''I mean that this has something...'' I tried to find a proper word for it. ''...sensitive... material on it.''

''Please, i must know.'' She pleaded and i briefly looked at Luffy who nodded. Sighing for the thousandth time today, i gave the letter to her. It didn't take much long after she finished reading and collapsed to the ground sobbing.

''What was in the letter?'' Chopper asked me and i explained them about Niro and his partners, but left the last wish of the desperate father of two. Noticing that Luffy was gone and hearing a loud smashing noise, where we all saw a ruined tower collapse courtesy of Luffy, Sanji and miraculously, Usopp.

''Jeez.'' Zoro muttered. ''You guys are such kids.''

I saw Ace was making a small burial for the other corpse and helped him with that as Vivi gently set the skull. She still had those tears in her face and was biting her lower lip. I pulled another napking from my pouch and handed to her.

''Vivi.'' Luffy said and grabbed her attention. ''We have to keep going forward. We've been sitting here too long.'' Luffy started to march forward.

''Let's go, to Yuba.'' Nami also added.

''That's where the Rebel Army is, right?'' Zoro said as Vivi stood up.

''Yes. I'll persuade the Leader to stop the uprising'' She said and i raised my eyebrow as i forgot how she'll do that.

''How?''

''All the catastrophes in Arabasta have been engineered by Crocodile. I'm going to tell them the truth, and put an end to this useless bloodshed.'' Vivi said and walked silently forward, but saw she was slowing down from the rest of the crew.

Looking back at the lagging Vivi, who briefly stood up and looked at Erumalu behing us with a solemn expression. I stayed a bit behind the others since i was responsible for her well-being. She looked forward and spotted me waiting, where she jogged to catch up to me while covering her face with the hood she wore. ''You sure you'll be fine?'' I gave her a bottle of water. ''That seemed to take alot from you.''

She nodded at me with a sad smile and drank the water a few times. ''Yes, once this is over a new Kingdom, much peaceful will shone here and as you said, there will be lots of changes.''

''I'll look forward to it.'' I smiled warmly at her.

''What about you?'' She asked me after a moment of silence which i raised my eyebrow. ''Are you willing to fulfill a dead man's last wish?''

I tought about it a bit and nodded my head. ''I could try. Its the least i can do and besides, he said that there aren't much spiral-shaped green eyed people around here is it?''

She was thinking about that, or more like furiously trying to remember until she sighed. ''I guess your right, thanks.''

''About what?'' I feigned confusion with a smile that somehow got the Princess to smile a bit.

''You seem to understand me and i can talk to you more freely about these things...'' She admitted getting a light chuckle on my part.

''That's what nakamas are for, right?'' I told her and received a nod. ''And i told you that you can talk to me anytime you want about anything.'' She then smiled at me as the crew shouted at us from afar to pick up the speed.

**[To Be Continued]**

If someone knows these green swirly eyed people, then rest assured, they will not have a major impact on this story and are just a fillers that will be forgotten. I'm merely borrowing the story from another story to add as my, but there will a lot of changes in it and yes, i don't own that too.

I decided not to... *sigh* ...bash Ace here, since people seem to like him for _wrong_ reasons. Though, i don't even know should i even bash a character here, but we'll see if i can tolerate them and get along with it. Ezekiel and Ace could be buddies or not, because:

I haven't decided should i add the OC with Luffy to the Impel Down arc or not.

Do i have something else to do by then?

Am i alive by then?

Do i get more reviews?

Or i'm out of ideas.

I was also about to release this chapter yesterday, but hey, i had shit to do.

Oh, i also decided to add Ezekiels Ninjutsus/Attacks/Orbs/Everything on the ending of every coming chapters. All in good time though, so enjoy and lemme know how'd you like it. I'm also currently fixing the previous chapters, but there won't me any massive changes and my updates _might_ take some time longer.

I think i'll change the 'Question of the Week' to Authors question(s), but for your luck, there won't be any... for now.

Enjoy!


	26. Deserts 'Miracles'

**Chapter 26: Deserts 'Miracles'**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Arabasta Desert, Ezekiel's POV]

''Aaah..'' I heard Luffy moan while walking with a stick i found for him about 3 to 4 hours ago after we left Erumalu. ''Aaah... i'm burning... not even sweating anymore.'' And he complains were slowly getting on my nerves.

''Enough of the 'Aaah's', Luffy. You'll wear yourself out.'' Thankfully, Nami said something about it, but got ignored by the straw hat wearing Captain. ''You're not listening to a word i say.'' I saw now that she was walking next to me and i guessed that was because she'll use me as a meatshield again if the time comes. Looking behind me, i saw Chopper being carried in a small wooden sleight by Zoro. Pitying the small reindeer that i had no doubt would get a massive heatstroke in a minute, i decided to help him out.

Slowing down next to the downed Chopper who comically had X-marks on his eyes with his tongue out. ''I can't take this. I'm perfectly fine in the cold, but i can't stand the heat.'' He then opened his eyes and looked at me. ''Ezekiel-nii?'' Grabbing the little reindeer with a smile, i set him on my shoulder and tried to test something new.

I held my palm in front of me and consentrated on it. After a few seconds there was a light red Chakra that meant that my Fire Affinity was visible and my palm was sweating from the heat. I tried to change it to my Wind attributes, although they were weak in comparison to my Fire and Lightning, it was more useful in supplementary than in combat. My Katana started to pulse and helped me add her own attributes in it to create a greyish Chakra that coated my hand.

''What is that?'' Usopp asked me in curiousity and even Zoro was paying some attention since i snatched his passanger out of him.

Reaching over to Choppers hat, i set my palm on his hat and felt him sigh in reliefe. I even felt him leaning on my head half-asleep as we continued walking. ''Better?'' I asked him still with my smile on.

''Much...'' Chopper answered me and i could him breathing much easier.

''Glad i could be a help.'' I said to him and gazed forward.

''Oi, what was that all about?'' Usopp asked next to me, also walking with a stick i found for him.

''Just cooled his hat down to make him more comfortable.'' I replied to him.

''Cool, can you do that for me?'' He eagerly asked.

''Sorry, i can only do that once since my Wind Affinity isn't what i call my strongest, so i had to call...'' I looked at my Katana and tapped it with my hand. ''...a help from a friend.''

''Why does Chopper get all the luxurity?'' Usopp groaned and gave me a glare.

''I'm just returning the favor here for our Doctor, as the saying goes; You scratch my back, i scratch yours.'' I replied to him..

''Its because his fuzzy, that's why.'' Usopp said indignantly. ''Why doesn't he just take that animal costume off, that damn reindeer.''

''What was that, asshole!'' Chopper shouted and transformed into his Human Point where the extra weight collapsed me face first to the sand. ''Don't make fun of the reindeer!''

''Ahh! A Monster!'' Usopp shrieked and tried to held a brave front.

''Tony-_kun_...'' I said in a icy cold voice, startling the bickering duo and i felt the weight decrease on me.

''S-sorry.'' Chopper stuttered as i slowly got up with a disapproving scowl and resumed my walk while seeing Ace and the crew looking at our direction. Patting my robes to get the sand of me, i did the same to my hair and wiped the sand from my face with the sleeves.

''Man, why are these dunes so freakin' tall?'' Usopp complained after the small incident. ''I thought deserts were supposed to be flatter than this.''

Ignoring Luffys moaning once more, Vivi explained to us that this is an ancient desert and the largest sand dunes can reach over 300 meters. I felt Chopper lean on my head after a long time, probably unsure if i was still angry at him. Easing the guy up a bit, i patted his head to cool him down more and felt he let himself relax now that i forgave him.

''Aaah, i can't stand it...'' Luffy moaned in obvious exhaustion over the climate. ''It's so hot.''

''Luffy! Just one mouthful, okey?'' Nami told him and i saw that it was Luffy who carried our water supply. Chuckling a bit as he put the water tube in his mouth and started to pump his mouth full with water. ''That's too much!'' Nami shouted at him and hit him in the head while the Captain spurred the water in his mouth in a long stream.

''Save some for me too! You just took 18 mouthfuls!'' Usopp shouted and also hit him in the head.

''Hold it! You had some before!'' Sanji voiced himself and the three male began to fight each other, much to my amusement and Vivi's worry.

''Don't fight! You'll waste your strenght!''

''Hey, you made me spit it out!'' Luffy tried to protest to defend what pride he had left in their banter.

''Well, you're the one to blame for that, aren't you!'' Sanji told him.

''That's right! You had it coming!'' Usopp also added.

It continued like that with the bickering until Nami installed some behaviour in them by smashing their skull. After that, it was mostly silent and i zoned out a bit.

_''Let's see, if the rain stopped 3 years ago with Erumalu being the first to perish. That means that the brats age now must be thirteen and the eldes seventeen. Next town we'll visit, i'll try to keep my eyes open for them.'' _

I didn't notice that my name was called and felt two hooves poking my forehead. ''Ezekiel-nii, i want to get down.'' Chopper said and i complied where i set the reindeer on the sand. Looking up, i saw it was already nighttime and wondered how many hours i've spaced out.

''I'm starving~!'' Luffy tried to sing a song about him starving while our dinner was being prepared by Sanji. I even saw that Ace helped to set the fire and was still observing our behaviour. I knew he wouldn't try something funny, whilst his brother is here so i let him do whatever he wanted.

''Quit being so greedy!'' Sanji scolded the Captain. ''It's still raw! Don't eat it!''

I currently had a stick and was poking our campfire and thinking back when i used to camp with my family. Well, more like the men camped with our fishing equipments and hunting gears, it was fun while it lasted. I remembered that i caught a huge fish and shouted it through the forest that it was mine and greedily eated it by myself.

Feeling a light tug on my robes, i saw Nami that mysteriously appeared beside me after she conversed with Vivi about the danger of desert. ''What's with you? You've been spacing out on us for quite some time.''

''Its nothing, just remembering the old times and the like.'' I tried to assured her, but it came as a sad reply from my part.

She gave me a critical stare, but nonetheless nodded and saw that Sanji handed me my plate of food after the other guys lunged on theirs. After that was done, they all went to sleep one by one as i stayed there and the only ones left was me, Nami and Ace.

''So, who'se taking the first shift?'' Ace asked us as he walked towards us.

''Its usually me who does those since i don't sleep.'' He raised his eyebrow. ''Insomnia.'' I saw he cringed a bit and went back to the guys tent. ''And what about you, miss?'' I asked the navigator.

Now that we were alone with Nami, she edged closer to me and leaned her head on my shoulder. ''In a minute.'' Chuckling, we both watched the campfire and i first thought that these kind of _moments_ were prearranged since they were usually well-timed for us.

Not one to argue about these moments that miraculously appear, i took her hand and noticed how soft they were. I always thought that she had rough hands from drawing all the maps. The last time she held mine, i didn't pay much attention to it since i was looking at the pink fireworks in Drum Island. ''How was your first day in the desert?'' I said to start a conversation.

''It was hot, i thought i was going to melt.'' She laughed a bit and turned to me. ''I didn't see you complain once, how's that?.''

''I'm used to it and besides, its a great change from the sea, don't you think?''

''Talk for yourself.'' She narrowed her eyes at me. ''Can i ask you a question?'' Raising a eyebrow, i nodded at her, a bit hesitantly i might add. ''Is there something going on with you and Vivi?''

I was taken aback by that. _''Is she... jealous?''_ That would explain why she was quite when me and Vivi were around her. ''What makes you think so?''

She looked back at the campfire with a sad expression and i though i did something to upset her. ''Well... you seem pretty intrested in her well-being.'' I chuckled at that and got a glare from her.

''I did promise curly-ossan to look after her, didn't i? It wouldn't look good on me if i break a promise.'' I smiled and began poking the embers on our campfire. ''I care for the lot of you and think of you as my second family.'' I said with a sad smile while thinking about my own family back in my world.

''What happened to your family?'' She asked me and i thought about it for a second and found myself being a bit homesick.

''I guess its safe to say that their not among us.'' I felt her grip my hand harder. ''But thats all in the past now.'' I waved the image away. Truth be told, i liked it here much better than back home. Sure its dangerous, but i guess its better than the constant stress i've endured there.

''I'm sorry.'' Nami apologized and i realized my mistake then. She must've thought that my whole family were all dead. I felt like hitting myself, since it was true, their not among us in One Piece world so i thought that it was best to keep my mouth shut for now lest i'll screw up more.

I heard her yawn a bit and helped her stood up and led her to her and Vivi's tent. ''Thanks, for keeping me company, again.''

She stroke my cheek and i could somehow remember that her sister used to do that once in the party at Cocoyashi. ''Anytime...'' She was leaning towards me and i did the same until we heard a noise coming from the guys tent. We saw Ace walking from his tent and i restrained a groan from his bad timing. ''I'll go to sleep now, night.'' Nami said and went back to her tent with a light blush still on her cheeks.

''Did i interrupt something?'' Ace said while blinking the small sleep from his eyes.

I looked at the closed tent of the girls and gave him a glare. ''Not at all.''

''If i did then my deepest apology.'' He humbly bowed at my direction.

''Just... forget it.'' I dismissed him. ''Can i help you with something?''

He motioned for me to sit in one of the rocks nearby and i nodded at him. ''Just wanted to talk, is all.''

''And that would be?'' I inquired him with a raised brow.

''How's my little brother been? I know he can be a handful, but you seem to be the only one can tolerate him the most.''

I smiled a bit. ''There were some times when you just want him permanently shut, but aside from the weirdness that is Luffy, i think he's hilarious. He has that weird charm that pulls people around him, its admirable and slightly getting on my nerves.''

He nodded at me with a chuckle of his own. ''I know what you mean. He's a dumb little brother, but he does have that strange charm you mentioned and hasn't change one bit since our childhood.'' We were silent for a minute when he said something more. ''He also seems to trust you a lot.''

''Does he now?'' I asked him with a smile. ''The trust is mutual, you know.''

''Actually, the whole crew seems to trust you.'' Ace said, but he seemed to said that mostly to himself.

''Enlighten me.''

He tapped his chin with his finger. ''I can see they trust you, like back in Katorea when you splitted apart. They trusted you to handle the situation without complaining. You also seem to have a decent grasp of leadership experience...''

I laughed at that. ''Their just like a bunch of kids with me and couple more acting as nannys, so you don't need much skill in that area. Sides, i do ask the crews opinion regarding important or difficult problems we encounter, it keeps us united and i trust them as much as they do me.'' I shrugged at him and the area was silent for a minute until Ace yawned.

''Sounds cool.'' He stood up and went back to his tent. ''Just, keep an eye on Luffy for me.'' And went back to his tent.

''As if i already didn't have my hands full.'' I deadpanned at his retreating back, but gave it up and slumped down on the sand. Using my scroll as a pillow, i gazed at the stars and tried to think what tommorow would bring for us.

Just then, i heard yet another shuffling from the tents and was surprised as the pirates just keep coming after another. Lifting my head and looking at the direction where the noise came, i saw it was Chopper rubbing his eye with his hoof. ''Ezekiel-nii.''

I couldn't help but smile at him and stood up in a sitting position. ''Yes, Tony-kun?''

The reindeer was by now fully awake and sniffed around the place. ''I can't sleep, the guys are snoring too loudly.''

I chuckled at him and motioned him to come closer. At first, i thought using a simple Genjutsu on him to sleep, but decided against it since it wouldn't be fair. After a bit of thinking i came up with an idea. ''How about i tell you a story?''

He brightened up and sat on my lap like my cousins used to when i was about to read them a story. ''What story are you going to read?''

I thought about it and came up with a good one. Resuming my position before Chopper woke up, i set him on my stomach and we both looked at stars above us. ''Its a story about a village where nobody could sleep; A typical town where people go their own businesses, children play in the playgrounds and all the likes. At nights though, the people try to rest by either sitting or lying down, but they couldn't sleep even for a moment, no matter how tired the folks were. So, to pass up their time during the nights, they talk and chat for hours on end. Eventually, their tongues got tired and the words refused to flow. The conversation ended there and the people gazed at the walls in utter boredom where it continues every night, so you can imagine how they feel.''

''Is it like you right now?'' Chopper asked, still looking at the stars above us.

''Kinda, the difference being that i don't complain about it since it doesn't help me.'' I replied and thought about those lonely nights that i had back home. ''Back to the story; So, the people were desperate and decided to ask help from a old wise woman who lives at the other side of the moutain near them. Her name was Ms. Hope and had more wisdom than her age granted for the frail woman with an unusual close ties with nature. Unlike the folks, she could sleep placidly throught the nights. However, she wasn't able to explain how she did it. Deciding to help the people, she asked the animals nearby...''

The rest of the story was that the she got her answer by telling that the animals lay down and closed their eyes. However, it didn't work on the humans as they did so, they ended up being bored. The only difference now bring that they had their eyes closed. The old woman tried again, but had to wake up the animals from their slumber. The animals got pissed off and shooed the woman away to a nearby river where she meditated and met a glowworm.

The glowworm said that he has the answer she seeks and the old woman said: ''I will be very glad if you tell me, because it will make my frieds happy.'' Easy enough, the glowworm said that true happiness comes when you make other people happy. Happiness is like its light; it glows brighter when every living things look at it with love and the answer to her problem is fantasy and dreaming.

''Dreaming...'' Chopper mutterer almost asleep.

Nodding to myself i continued. ''Dreaming is the magic of life. It is to look deep inside us. It's letting our imagination to roam free in our mind. The old woman took advice and shared the knowledge to the villager where they managed to finally get some sleep.'' I looked at the snooring reindeer and smiled at him. ''Well, thats all i could remember, but in the end, there was a happy ending to it with the people sleeping soundly. Lucky bastards.'' I murmured the last part to myself.

The rest of the night continued with me gazing at the stars and hearing Luffy waking up for early pee. I still had Niro's diary, but i didn't want to risk Chopper waking up while i read it. So i'll do that some other time.

''I found a shrimp! Oi! Guys, i found a delicious looking shrimp.'' I heard Luffy shout and saw that Chopper was slowly standing up from my torso and ran to see Luffy and the now awake Usopp. Standing up, i made my way towards them and saw Luffy holding a blood red scorpion. ''Ezekiel! Look, i found a shrimp.'' The rubber man said and held the poisonous arthropod in from of my face.

''So that's a shrimp!'' A amazed Chopper said followed by Usopp.

''There aren't any shrimp in the desert.'' Usopp said as Luffy moved the scorpion and showed it to Usopp who said that it must be a desert-shrimp after all.

''Uhm, you guys.'' I began and got their attention. ''That's not a shrimp and i suggest you throw the thing away lest it injects you with its poison and we'll have to drag your corpse through the desert.'' I said bluntly.

Luffy moved the scorpion away from me. ''No! I'm not gonna waste it! I bet you want to eat it from me!'' I saw Usopp and Chopper were shaking from what i said and i facepalmed at him.

''I've eaten that thing once back home and i guarantee you, it tastes like ass.'' I said to him and saw him raise an eyebrow.

''Ass? Don't you mean a donkey?'' The Captain said and i facepalmed harder at the reply.

''No, it literally tastes like buttrock, so just throw it away would you.'' Surprisingly, he complied but i saw he wasn't happy about it. ''Tell you what, next time we meet some weird animal you can eat it, deal?''

He nodded at me with a grin which made me give my own. We then saw Chopper climbing a small rock where he gazed at the distant horizon of sand dunes. ''Something... is coming.'' Chopper said, firmly looking at the direction where a small wind gathered.

''And 'something' would be... what?'' Usopp asked and i saw a large gathering of wind heading towards us.

''Ah, the wind has picked up.'' Ace said as he woke up from the commotion that was us.

''Everyone!'' Vivi shouted in panic. ''Take cover under the rocks!''

''Huh? What?'' Luffy asken in confusion that was also plastered on Usopp and Choppes faces.

''A storm! A sandstorm is coming!'' Vivi shouted once again and took cover.

''What a drag.'' I murmured and summoned 2 clones to get Nami and the other guys to safety.

''I forgot to mention it before, but sandstorms are one of the many dangers of the desert!''

''TELL US THINGS SOONER!'' We all shouted at Vivis late information about the dangerous desert and were engulfed by the generous lump of sand that buried us.

It took me long enought to get the damn sand off me and looked around the sprawled Straw Hats. My clones managed to get Nami and the others out of their tents before something bad would've happened. I nodded to my clones to stay and took a jump to one of the higher rocks around to look around.

I didn't see anything and receiving the memories of my clones that popped from Sanjis kick. The guy said that he was the one that was supposed to save Nami. I looked down from the cliff and saw the guys slowly getting up one by one.

Retrieving our necesseties under the sand, we resumed our walk towards Yuba. Things got normal and by normal i meant Luffy pestering Sanji to stop and eat.

''Oi, Sanji! Let's eat our bento! Pirate bento!'' The idea was shot down until we get Vivis permission. ''Vivi, let's eat. I'm out of strenght.''

''But we're still only 1/10 of the way to Yuba, Luffy-san...'' Vivi tried to set some sense to him.

''Aren't you being foolish? Haven't you heard the saying: 'If you are hungry, eat.'''

''I concur, but now isn't really the time Luffy.'' I joined the conversation with Chopper slumped on my head after cooling his hat down.

''That's because you didn't let me eat the shrimp!'' He pointed an accusing finger at my direction.

''You mean the scorpion? Trust me on this, Luffy. My Master used to eat that crap and also forced one down my throat. I'll never forget the taste.'' I shuddered, the old man said that it freshens up your memory after i 'forgot' to arrive always on time for training. _''He __**really **__didn't like people late.''_

''Master?'' It was now Ace's turn to ask and i had a feeling he was interrogating me again. ''Is he the one who taught you all those magic you say?''

''Yes.'' I bluntly replied. It wasn't technically lie since he did teach me to defend myself. _''That and many more that i still owe to the lovable old baffoon.''_ I though sadly. He saved me from my sadness and gave me something to look forward in life. He was more like my father than my own ever was and was always there for me. Mostly because he didn't walk much as he used to back in his ninja days as i dubbed it.

''Is he alive?'' Zoro asked i had a feeling he wants to meet him, but why would he was beyond me. I didn't reply to him and looked at the sand in sadness. It was actually painful to remember him, but thankfully my bad vibe was diminished by a loud smacking noise courtesy of Nami who reprimanded Zoro about those questions.

''You don't ask those!''

Zoro got angry at that. ''Chill woman, its not like he's your boyfriend or anything.''

I was lucky i had my face down since i was blushing at the implication. Not that i wouldn't mind, because there obviously is something between me and her. I was really nice and i look froward to it, although her bipolarity worries my a bit. Besides that, shes hot, not in desert hot, but she was as hot as... Impel Downs Level 4... or was it 3?

Vivi was really helpful this time as she explained to Luffy that we'll take a break at the next outcropping of rocks we come by.

''Yosh, next outcropping!'' Luffy shouted and turned towards us with his fist raised high. ''Hey guys! Let's hurry up to the next outcropping! Whoever wins at Janken (rock-paper-scissors) carries all the baggage!''

''Don't decide things on your own!'' Sanji shouted and regained his composure after that. ''Isn't it usually the loser who carries the baggage...?'' I nodded since well... its Luffy.

''Don't mind it.'' I replied as he shrugged.

''All right, here we go!'' The Captain shouted to the sky. ''Jan! Ken! Pon!''

''Now wait a minute!'' Vivi tried somehow to diffuse our bickering, but unfortunate for here. We're dealing with Luffy here.

Looking at our hands, we saw Luffy grin. ''Whoa! I won!'' Luffy shouted in glee and noticed his mistake. ''Oh no! I won!'' He looked at his hand as if it had betrayed him, which was hilarious and i broke in laughter.

After we burdened Luffy with the extra carriage, i took pity to him... only slightly. ''You know i could seal half of them for you.''

The guys was still moaning about being tired, but held firm ''No, i said that the winner carries and that's me. I carry out my promises!'' He shoued once more and resumed to make those pitiful noises.

''Your loss...'' I shrugged at him and continued my walk to catch up to the guys.

''H-Heavy... it's heavy... and hot... i won at Janken... why?'' He asked himself, but was instead answered by Sanji.

''It's _because_ you won at Janken. Shut up and pull!''

''Don't let anything fall off now!'' Nami warned him and resumed her walk after i managed to catch up to her. ''So...'' She said as she looked at my direction. ''What was the story you told to Chopper last night?''

''Oh, so you heard?'' She nodded at me and i grinned as i hoisted the scrolls i carried. A instinct of mine said not to trust it to Luffys 'watchful' eyes. ''Its nothing special, just something thats supposed to get kids to sleep, which luckily worked for me.''

''You two seem to get along with Tony-kun, Ezekiel-san.'' Vivi said as she mysteriously appeared next to me after talking with Usopp if he sees something up ahead.

''What can i say. The little guy reminds me too much of myself when i was a kid.'' I replied to her as Sanji also made his way to us. Probably because he feels threatened that the girls are conversing with me.

''You were a reindeer?'' He asked as he once more lighted his cigarette and i could feel my eyebrow twitching.

''No, what i meant was that i was also discriminated for something i had no control.'' I said with a barely restrained anger, but managed to get control over myself. Unfortunately for me, they sensed it and i was once more interrogated.

''What do you mean?'' Vivi asked and i decided that i might as well open up a bit to them.

''I was... different from the rest back then, because how i look. So in order to survive, i was always angry and extremely hostile to anyone that i didn't know. I wasn't much later until-'' I mumbled to myself absentmindedly and i was about to continue, but thankfully Usopps shout got me back to reality. Seeing the worried glaces, i flashed a dismissing smile. ''Its all in the past though, no worries.''

''Straight ahead, outcropping sighted!'' Usopp shrieked.

''Really!'' Luffy shouted in glee and made a mad dash towards the cropping. ''Break time! Yahoo!''

''Oi! He's fast!'' Usopp shouted with his eyes comically popped out. Sighing in annoyance at our Captains antics, we started to walk until Luffy ran back to us shouting that some birds were sick and needed help. I shrugged at the whole ordeal and found myself that i couldn't care less about those birds except my sons in Drum Island.

_''Kinda miss 'em.''_ I mentally shrugged and thought thats a normal thought as a parent. Thinking about my feathery children, i found that we arrived at our resting place. Looking around and walking towards a large stone where i began to touch it. I felt that it was an OK temperature, not too hot nor cold and that i can sit on it after setting Chopper down.

I heard Vivi apologize that she forgot to warn us about those Warusagi birds that likes to fool and steal random travelers, for example; us. I don't remember much about the progress of the story since the 'Dead Man's Wish' wasn't supposed to be here, that much i knew. The other being that i didn't want to influence much.

''I was tricked?'' Luffy said in disbelief and i could only nod.

''Luffy! Saying you were tricked won't cut it! That was three days worth of supplies stole by a bunch of freakin' birds.'' Sanji told him and gripped his collar. ''Now we're stuck out in the desert of all places and we have NO BAGGAGE!''

''Ezekiel still has our stuff in his mystery-scroll!'' Luffy retorted and pointed his finger at me. ''There's no point in getting mad at _me_. I was tricked.''

''Its still not enough!'' Sanji shouted back. Which was true, i mostly carried clothes and some amount of water since i was positive that we could hunt around here.

''Will you guys quit it!'' Zoro shouted at the fighting duo, but was assured by Ace saying that its no use and let them finish on their own. He let go of it and sat down next to me in the rock. ''Let's rest for a bit. We're just getting worked up because of the heat. As far as food goes, we'll get by somehow. We're not exactly going to die of hunger and the problem with water isn't so bad.''

''Just thinking about the water makes my throat go dry.'' Usopp said and pointed at his throat. Unrolling my other scroll, i took out the cooled water canteed and handed it to Usopp. ''Thanks.'' He took a sip from it and widened his eye. ''Wow! Thats cold!'' Usopp perked up and began to drink the cooled water.

''Really, let me have it!'' Chopper also shouted. After drinking the water he also had his eyes awake. The reindeer Doctor was giddy and offered the drink to Zoro and after that to Ace. Luffy and Sanji were still on their argument until they spotted the white swan-like birds with our supplies.

''GIVE US BACK OUR STUFF!'' Luffy shouted and ran at the laughing birds.

''Luffy-san! Don't chase them!'' Vivi tried to warn, but was in vain as Luffy was too focused to get our stuffs back. There was also a lot groan of annoyance from the crew and shouts for Luffy to come back. Shaking my head at the image of Luffy running after them, i went to Nami and the waving Vivi trying to catch Luffys attention.

''Its futile, Vivi.'' I said and offered the cooled drink to her.

She sighed and took the canteen with a heavy sigh. The reaction was the same as the other guys, but this time with a light shudder. ''How did you keep the water cold!''

I kinda expected that and was grinning at the reaction. ''Something i worked for 2 months, pretty useful don't you think?''

''But...'' She was loss at words and i would've been to if someone showed me that.

''Its kinda hard to explain if you don't have experience with generic sealing. Belive me, i didn't know how to modify it until recently, its a lost art.'' I said and saw Vivi handing the drink to Nami who eagerly drank it. Nami didn't have that surprised expression as Vivi, but fully complimented me and i nerveously scrathed my head, not knowing what to make of it.

Sitting down and sighing, i took a mental note to watch the guys next time when i give them the cooled water. I knew Luffy would be ok, so sitting down and unsheating my Katana, i took my sharpening stone from my pouch and began to sharpen the edge. If i didn't know better, i could've sworn that the Katana pulsed in satisfaction, but pegged it as one of her weird antics.

As i absentmindedly consentrated on my task the crew were getting worried over Luffy. ''Luffy sure is taking his time.'' Usopp said as he handed the canteen back to me.

''I wonder if he's lost after all...'' Chopper muttered as he laid down on the sand and looked at the clear sky.

''He'll manage... i hope.'' I added the last part as i sheated my Katana and began to work on my Tanto.

''Honestly. He ran off without any idea which way he was going.'' Nami complained, not that it was unjustified since we all did.

''There are still many dangers in the desert Luffy-san doesn't know about.'' Vivi added.

''He's gotta be pretty hungry after not eating for so long.'' Sanji said and i could only shake my head in shame.

''I pity the foolish creature that meets Luffy.'' I said with a small chuckle at him meeting some eadible animal that he'll no doubt starts to chase.

There was a moment of silence around us and the only noise around was me sheating my Tanto after my task was done. Grumbling, Zoro stood up and adressed that we have no choice but to look for the lost Captain.

''Sorry...'' Ace said as Zoro and Sanji were about to leave. ''My careless little brother need a lot of looking after.''

The guys nodded when suddenly the whole place started to tremble and we saw a huge sand pillar erupt a good distance away. Usopp was panicing about the giant sand and took his goggles to zoom in. I did the same with my Sharingans and groaned as i deactivated them. ''Nothing but trouble.''There was our Captain riding a shit scared camel running away from the sand that was chasing them.

''Luffy!'' Usopp screamed in disbelief.

''Is that...?'' Vivi said and was thinking again. ''Could it be...'''

''Luffy riding a camel?... thats new.'' I said as i scratched my head.

''What's that thing chasing him?'' Sanji said as he and Zoro were reading themselves.

''I don't know, there's something underneath the sand.'' Zoro said. Then suddenly, there was a giant lizard with slitted lime-green eyes, purple skin with sharp claws and mouth wide open exposing his equally sharp teeths.

''Its huge!'' Usopp and Chopper screamed and i couldn't care less about the damned thing as i went to sit back to my spot. Covering my head with my hood, i began to meditate. I had full confident on the guys and i decided to let them handle the beast. I picked up from Vivi saying that the purple lizards name was called the Great Sandora Lizard.

There was a lot of smashing noises added with a noticable rise in the temperature that came from Ace who grilled the second lizard near us. Closing my eyes for a moment, i felt my muscle relax and sighed in relief as i felt my Chakra calming down.

After a long minutes of relaxing on my part, i slowly opened my eyes and saw... the same damn camel Luffy was riding. Standing up and walking towards it since i wanted to see the camel closer. Staring at the camel, i took my canteen and shook it to see that it was almost empty. Opening the canteen of water and offering it to the camel who happily drank it with a little help from my part as i laughed at it.

I heard from Chopper that the camel helped him back in Katorea and gave it a light pet on his head in gratitude.

''Great! We can ride it?'' Usopp said as he stood up. ''If we can ride it, things'll be a lot easier.''

''Yeah, that'll help us out a lot.'' Sanji said and threw a stack of meat pierced with a wooden stick at me. Looking at his direction, he had another meat being grilled in a heated stone. Nodding, i started to devour the meat with gusto. ''It looks like two can ride it.''

''Camels go along perfectly with deserts.'' Zoro added and i nodded again as those creatures were pretty handy. I saw Luffy was trying to hitch a ride from it only to have his head bitten.

''Eh? What's wrong with you?'' Luffy complained.

''Maybe he's racist?'' I narrowed my eyes at the camel.

Thankfully, Chopper translated his animalistic speech. ''I am a freedom-loving, hard-boiled, chivalrous camel. Thank you for saving me from such a predicament. I don't mind being ridden, but i won't let guys ride.''

''I guess i can understand that.'' I scrathed my head again once i took my hood off and saw Luffy, Usopp and Sanji beating the camel.

''Why you...!'' Luffy shouted at it.

''Liar! You let Chopper ride!'' Usopp added while punching him on its side.

''For chivalry.'' Chopper said after translating what the camels intention was. After a small pause that didn't last long the beating continued

''Stop screwing around you stupid camel!'' The three animal abusers shouted.

Nami appeared beside the camel after the beating and began to tend the 'poor' camel. ''I'm sorry. My little bandits are so horrible to you. You're a good boy, aren't you?'' The camel had hearts in his eyes and i could only shake my head.

''I think we found your twin, Sanji.'' I deadpanned at his direction.

''Whats that supposed to mean!'' He screamed at me.

''Now, what should i call you?'' Nami said as she mounted the camel and patted its head.

''Idiot.''

''Dumbass.''

''Moron.''

''Humphrey.'' I said and got weird looks from the crew as i laughed. ''See, HUMPhrey, i think its funny.''

''Well then, 'Eyelashes' it is.'' Nami announced and i groaned at the name.

''Great, that's what we need, a gay camel.'' I deadpanned once more. ''He'll make great friends with the okama Mr. 2.'' I was ignored as she made her way to Vivi all the while the others cursed him as 'Ero-camel', which was true.

''It looks like we can go a little faster this way. We have to get to Yuba as quickly as possible and persuade the rebels to stop.'' Nami said to Vivi as i mildly listened around me. ''Forward, Eyelashes!'' She said and strutted forward.

''Wait a minute!'' We all shouted except Ace who kept that smile of his. There was a lot of cursing and one compliment directed at Nami. I took Chopper to my shoulders and ran to catch the giggling girls.

**[To Be Continued]**

I know, i know, i'm late as usual and i don't have any excuses this time. I got a lot of questions about Daxter, but theres no need to worry about him. He'll make his debut after some... incident. Rest assured that he will have his role and already has as he makes some cool gadgets and stuff.

About the orbs... you'll probably see it in the next few chapters as i have plans for them. Honestly though, i have no idea how to proceed with the Dead Man's request, so i'll just throw it off the hat and see how you'll like it.

That's enough from now, i guess...


	27. The Hidden Side of Arabasta

**Chapter 27: The Hidden Side of Arabasta.**

**Note: surprise, surprise**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

''So hot... Ezekiel... water...'' Luffy sai as he weakly grabbed my robe to get my attention.

''No can do, Cap'n, because of your... carelessness, we have to conserve our supplies until we can REsupply.'' I reminded him.

''This heat is just too much. I can't take it, please let me ride on you back like Chopper.'' This time it was Usopp as our reindeer Doctor got all the luxury. It wasn't as much as before as the temperature kept rising and the cold palm was difficult to maintain for the furry reindeer.

Looking around and seeing everyone there, i was kinda worried and at the same time relieved. _''Weren't we supposed to be lost or something?''_ It was true, i can somehow remember that the girls, Ace and the rest being us got seperated from one another where we met the weird desert pirates.

''Traveling is much easier with you here, Eyelashes.'' Nami boasted and grinned at my direction.

I narrowed my eyes at her. ''Enjoy while you still can, that camels going to get it.'' I got nods of approval from the guys and i saw the camel glup. That earned me a kick to the head and i manage to groan at her. _''One day, she acts all cute'n nice and the other time she's a mean bitch.''_ ''Its settled, i'll never understand women.'' I grumbled and got two giggles from the girls and a chuckle from Ace.

''Since when did you?'' Sanji gloaded at me with his hands in his pocket. He wasn't smoking this time as it would leave him thirstier than he already is.

I actually thought about that. ''Actually, i never did.'' This earned a few sweatdrops from the desert travelers except from those that didn't have any sweat left. ''I prefered to keep my distance from them and kept brooding. Troublesome bunch.'' I shrugged and kept walking with a small glance behind us seeing Luffy and Usopp trying to keep up with us. It also seemed i was spacing out again since someone said my name.

''Something wrong?'' Zoro asked me as he caught up to me.

''Wha- no...'' He narrowed his eyes at me and i sighed. ''I can't seem to shake this feeling off that were being followed.''

''What are you talking about? There's no one here beside us.'' He said to me with a raised brow.

''Thats what _they_ want us to think.'' I tapped my head with my finger. ''See, the predator _thinks_ they follow the prey, but instead the prey is actually preying on the predator thats waiting to prey this so called prey, savvy? (understood).''

That got some weird looks at me and even Chopper was awake to hear me say that.

''Ezekiel-san, your just being paranoid, theres no one following us, look around.'' Vivi gestured around the desert from the camel with a smile.

''You know, everyones always told me that i'm paranoid and i need to calm down, but guess what, i'm _alive_ and everyone who said that is either crippled or if i'm lucky, dead. Last time i was paranoid, it actually saved my life as some bunch of freaks ambushed me with knives saying: 'You don't belong here!' or one of my favorite: 'Get the hell out you worthless piece of shit!'.'' Regardless, i continue since i felt agitated. ''I even though about killing them, but that would've brought me more trouble even if i said it was on the act of self-defence.''

The small pirate crew were a little uncomfortable at my small outburst and the small glimps of my past. ''Is that true?'' Chopper asked me after a long silent moment and i felt he tried to ease me a bit.

''What is what?'' I asked around as i walked my memorylane and remembered what i said. ''Oh, that...'' I said sadly. ''Yeah... it was actually one of the few moments where i was scared for my life and didn't think twice as i ran away.'' I shook my head to get rid of the bad memory. ''Its all in the past now, no need to remember that.''

At least it stopped Luffy from bitch'n and actually looked worried. Unfortunately for me at the moment, The Captain, the Doctor and the Liar tried to lift up my mood with a small success.

''Ezekiel, did you know that i once fought a Minotaur back in my village.'' Usopp said and i saw the crew sweatdrop at his attempt to cheer me up.

''That's not even t-!'' Nami said but i managed to interrupt her.

''There's actually Minotaurs around here!'' I asked shocked and the others facefaulted except Ace and Chopper with the latter listening to Usopp with wide-eyes.

Usopp was first shocked that i of all people believed him or so it seemed, but regained his composure with a bit of sweats in his face. ''Yeah, pretty tough creatures, but were nothing against Captain Usopp-sama!''

''What did they look like?'' I eagerly asked, mostly to humour myself.

He began to think furiously until he snapped his fingers. ''They had snakes as their legs with scissors arms and a big belly indicating that he ate 3... no 20 adults! What was scary to most, but not to me was the ducks face with his beak looking like a dogs snout.'' He then unrolled his sleeves and made a thinking posture with wind blowing his robes. ''Many have tried to battle it, but none of them succeeded to defeat it for ages until i arrived.''

Blinking at his direction, i deadpanned and pointed my finger at him. ''Your lying.''

There was another facefault episode and i saw the crew pointing an accusing finger at me. ''OF COURSE HE'S LYING!'' They all shouted at me.

Usopp was fearful now and backed away from me. ''H-how did you know?''

''Simple. Minotaurs are a creature made of part human and part bull, so your description wasn't that accurate. If i imagine what you said, first to come to my mind would be that guy i had to beat into a bloody pulp few years back. He survived with a few broken bones and nails.'' I said to the others with a shrugg. ''He had it coming.''

''Did you have to resort to violence, Ezekiel-san?'' Vivi asked me and i could feel a slight pity from her directed at me.

''Either that or i get my ass handed to me. Just another way of maintaining my survival.'' I shrugged at her direction, which made Sanji scowl.

''What was the other?'' Vivi asked again.

''Make their deaths look like an accident.'' I said as if talking about the weather.

''Couldn't you negotiate with them?'' Apparently, Vivi wants to preach me.

''Believe me, i've tried.'' She looked distraught at that and let it go. ''Forget about it.'' I waved her worries off and looked behind me and could've swear the sand just moved. Stopping and glaring at the spot to dare make another move for a few seconds until i was shaken out by my thoughts.

''What is it now?'' An annoyed Nami asked me, and i could feel she and the others looked at me. ''Not this again.'' She sighed and i looked at my hand where i saw my butterfly-knife unfold just as i looked at it.

Right on cue, some sand pillars about the size of three trucks each emerged from the ground and circled us. They had some weird drills at the front and the whole metal part was dark green except the few tires hanging from it. All in all, there was about 7 of them and we were in our fighting stance. What we didn't notice was a large net that was dropped onto us and we found ourselves trapped.

''Why i'm i so tired'' An extremely exhausted Luffy said as people emerged from the giant machines with guns pointed at us.

''They must be using Kairoseki nets.'' I heard Ace grumble and the others were confused.

''Kairoseki?'' Zoro asked at he tried to cut the net in vain.

''Nets specially made for capturing people with Devil Fruit-powers. Their hard as diamond and mostly used by Marines.'' I grumbled and wanted to fry them into ashes, but i didn't want to endanger the others while were this vulnerable.

What i thought was the leader of our ambushers started speaking a weird language that i couldn't hear from this far. Even if i did, i probably wouldn't understand it.

''Whats going on?'' Nami asked fearfully as the camel 'sat' on the ground and was panicing.

''Their Wastelanders!'' Vivi shouted in horror. ''I thought they vanished!''

''Wastelanders?'' Sanji asked as he also tried to get the net off.

''Their the people that were banished from Arabasta due to henious crimes hundreds of years ago. Having no choice, they setted themselves into the desert where many believed them being extinct.'' She was now terrified and clenched her fist. ''Their also very ruthless towards those they don't see as their own.''

Having no choice but to comply and walk to the biggest desert vehicle of the seven and mount it while being hand-cuffed. Of course, they were also made of Kairoseki as precaution. _''What's with the Marines nowadays? Handing the expensive rock like Christmas present to kids.''_ I frowned and got poked by a gun from a guard near me.

Looking around, we saw there was all kind of machinery and i had a feeling we were in some kind of a rusty space ship from a moment. Throwing us to what i thought was the cellar of the vehicle who started to tremble, we went closer to each other and decided to come up with a plan.

''So, how do we communicate with them?'' Ace asked and i could tell that he was tired as were Luffy and Chopper.

''We can't.'' Vivi said after a long thinking. ''Apparently they developed their own language and wanted nothing to do with outsiders.''

''Bummer, so does this mean they eat us or sacrifice us to some weird God?'' I inquired as Vivi shook her head.

''No one knows what they do to their prisoners as no one was able to see them.'' She looked distraught about this whole mess. ''I'm so sorry, i should've warned you about this.''

''Cut the crap Vivi.'' I sharply told her with glare. ''None of us could've foreseen this, so stop beating yourself!''

''He's right you know.'' Sanji said as he also looked around with me spotting the gages and the guards looking at us with untrusty gazes. ''We need to get out of here, times running out on us.''

I closed my eyes when he said that. ''Oh no!'' Vivi screamed and was about to faint. ''At this rate, we'll never get to Yuba!''

''You just had to say that, Ero-cook.'' Zoro grumbled as our supplies including mine and his swords were confiscated by them.

''Do you have something cool Magic trick to show those guards?'' Ace inquired me and i was thinking about.

''I could...'' I began and got a hopeful look from Vivi that i unfortunately had to diminish.

''I sense a 'but' here.'' Nami was also frustrated as the rest of us at this whole ordeal.

Sighing, i began to explain it to them. ''One would be for me knock them out through eye contact and release us, but the problem would be that their in different positions. Not to mention that i don't know who has the key and the wrong choice could be our last.'' I said and looked at the three guards that kept observing us from all angles except the front door where the apparent leader went. ''I can't use my hands on this and i'm not able to summon my weapons.'' Not one to distinguish hope i turned to the Princess with a reassuring smile. ''Don't worry, we'll get out of here before you know it.''

It got through her somehow and she flashed a smile of her own, but it was more to remind herself that she's surrounded by friends.

''What now?'' Luffy asked as Usopp was too scared to say anything.

''W-w-we're going to die here!'' Usopp stammered as we began to think of a plan. Looking at my hands in front of me, i saw that they were enough apart from each other that i could make any hand Seals.

Standing up, i went to the closest guard with baggy cargo-pants and blue out-lines, he also had a weird dirty yellow shirt with the right sleeve ripped off and bald head. Jumping a bit, i sighed in reliefe that the two artifacts i found were still under my robe. Looking back at Nami and seeing my Masters necklace i nodded to her to also assure her that were safe.

I heard the sliding door opening and revealed the what i thought was the leader. He also had the same pants, this being tighter and with black out-lines. This one didn't wear a shirt but a orange armor with shoulder pads and belt-straps. The guys face was covered in scars and he had a visible black tattoo on his neck that reached his cheek. I didn't focus on him much as there was a person standing behind his that i couldn't see. His whole presence reeked of a battle-hardened warrior that has seen death countless of times and lived.

He also held himself like he demanded respect and i instantly knew his kind of people. _''So he wants to be respected, eh? Better play this one safe, but i doubt it'll get me far.''_

''Nabund.'' He said as he walked over to where i stood and stared at me, daring that i give him a reason to dispatch us right here and now. I didn't even register what he said after the crew started to murmur something.

''What was that?'' Chopper said as he found the courage to speak, but was ignored as the men started to talk more.

''Hudrehk ihiciym, pid dra tyng-uha kejac sa dra lnaabc.'' The bald, slightly tanned man said and i couldn't help but frown at him.

''Ec dryd cu...'' The 'leader' or Mr. Big-shot as i now call him, said. ''Ra tuach'd caas tyhkanuic du sa, tecbydlr dras.''

''Oac, cen!'' The three guards said simultaneously and pointed their weapons at us.

''Oi, oi, their serious now!'' Zoro said and was prepared to fight. I didn't know how he'll do that, since we we're on this side of the gage.

I narrowed my eyes at him and activated my Sharingans. ''Oui fuimth'd! (You wouldn't!)'' I snarled at him and the guard actually dropped their weapons while Mr. Big-shot took a step back in surprise. ''Ev oui tyna du rind so vneahtc e cfayn dryd e femm byehd drec nuus lnescuh fedr ouin pmuut! (If you dare hurt my friends i swear that i will paint this room crimson with your blood!)''

They were speechless for about 2 minutes until they picked up their weapons, gathered around and started to discuss something away from me. After a long argument ending with Mr. Big-shots growl, they opened the gate while still pointing the weapons at us.

''Oui... uidcetan. (You... outsider.)'' He adressed me as the one of the random guard flanked me. ''Oui'mm vummuf ic du uin maytan (You'll follow us to our leader.)'' And was forcefully dragged outside the gages.

''Hey! Leave my nakama alone!'' Luffy shouted while he somehow got the streghts to protest from the restraining Kairoseki cuffs.

''Ezekiel-san!'' Vivi also shouted, but shut as Mr- Big-shot uncuffed my owns restrains. Rubbing my wrist a bit i looked at them and back to my nakamas. The guard next to me wouldn't have none of that as he tried to drag me away only for me to yank my hand away.

''Fryd ypuid dras? (What about them?)'' I asked Mr. Big-shot who actually chuckled.

''Tuh'd funno... (Don't worry...)'' He then looked fiercerly at his suborbinates. ''...Hu ryns femm pavymm du dras. (No harm will befall to them.)'' The guards furiously nodded, not wanting to defy him which meant that they were weak. Not one to underestimate this guy, i took him seriously.

I offered my hand to him. ''Ouin funt. (Your word.)'' I said to him with my monotone voice.

He grinned at me if that was possible. Rummaging his pouch on his waist, the guy took a elegant dagger and held it in my neck. The was a small gasp from the prisoners as i prepared myself and tensed, only for him to notice it where he let out a hollow laugh. With that he stabbed his own right palm and gushed some blood from it. He then gripped my offered hand tightly with a malicious grin.

''So meva. (My life.)'' I never broke the eye contact since the veteran in disguise of a 30-year-old psychopath was unpredictable. And there was nothing more that i hated, than a unpredictable opponent, beside me of course.

He then walked away and motioned his head to follow him. Nodding at him, i turned to my worried nakamas. ''Its alright, i'll handle this. Ya'll stay there and i get this done in a flash.''

I didn't get a reply as the guard pushed me forward with the gun on my back. Now that i've noticed it, the vehicle we were on stopped long time ago and kept looking at Mr. Big-shot for any hints. I wasn't surprised that i didn't get anything except the wide grin that seemingly unnerved the guards around.

_''Lets see, if their really criminals and my assumption are correct.''_ I grumbled and was once more poked with the gun, but this time from the bald guard that i now named 'Pokey'. Suddenly there was a bright light blinding me as the door of the drill vehicle opened and with that my eyes. ''What... the... fuck...'' I was speechless about what i saw and did my best not to wet my pants.

**[To Be Continued]**

And the chapter ended here and pretty fast too. More mystery and other stuff will happen to Ezekiel as this trouble is something he can't get out easily. Things are starting to get heated up and you'll find that i won't update as regularly as i used to, but i try to find some time for it.

The language i used was the human tribe from Final Fantasy X that i played again just recently. I got the idea from there and the rest is here. Much to my surprise, there was actually a translator for the language so i didn't have to use the cipher, thank God. The unknown words used were:

Nabund. - Report. - Mr. Big-shot.

Hudrehk ihiciym, pid dra tyng-uha kejac sa dra lnaabc. - Nothing unusual, but the dark-one gives me the creeps. - Pocky.

Ec dryd cu... - Is that so...

Ra tuach'd caas tyhkanuic du sa, tecbydlr dras. - He doesn't seem dangerous to me, dispatch them.

- Mr. Big-shot.

Oac, cen! - Yes, sir! - The guards.

I don't know if i said this enough, but i want to really thank my reviewers as i didn't know i had such and impact on people. One of my readers even got inspired and i'm still trying to figure this weird feeling in my stomach. Anyways, be sure to check out KuroHi91 – Dragon Slaying Pirate? A crossover between OP and Fairy Tail with its own OC in One Piece world. I really liked it and to top it off its pretty new here.

I feel this is all for now. Remember to rate, review, raid, rampage and retribution.

Until then, take care. -


	28. The Lost Side of Arabasta

**Chapter 28: The Lost Side of Arabasta.**

**Note: KuroHi91 Dragon Slaying Pirate? - Read... like nao!**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[?, With the Straw Hats]

''What do you think they'll do to him?'' Ace asked after Ezekiel was dragged away by the Wastelander guards.

''Nothing good, i guess.'' Sanji said and he leaned on the cage they were held prisoners.

''Will you stop giving bad news all the time!'' Zoro snarled.

''And lying will help us here!'' The two were now bickering until Nami kicked them in their head as she was also hand-cuffed like the rest of the pirates.

''Cut it off you two! This isn't the time nor place to argue!''

''Nami-san is right, we just have to trust Ezekiel-san on this.'' Vivi tried to ease the pirates up, but was nerveous herself.

Luffy, while still hand-cuffed by the Kairoseki cuffs was slamming his head on the cage. The Captain was miffed and hunger was also getting the best of him. ''Oi! Get back here and fight me!''

''Calm down Luffy.'' Ace told his brother. ''There's nothing you or any of us can do but wait. He did say he'll get this done.''

The word got through the Captain and he reluctantly sat down, but that didn't mean he liked the idea of leaving everything undone. This was the second time Ezekiel risked his life for him and the crew.

''Luffy...'' Zoro said to the sulking Captain gaining his attention. ''I know what your thinking, that you shouldn't leave all this responsibility to Ezekiel. We all want to help and since our hands are literally tied the only thing left is to trust him.''

He nodded at that and Chopper asked Zoro a question. ''Ezekiel-nii's hands are free, couldn't he get us out of here?''

''He could, but is it really the worth the risk. As it so happens, were in a unknown enemy territory.'' Ace mused aloud. ''That and were vulnerable here.''

''Ezek-kun was always the kind to take precautions before actions.'' Nami began. ''He must've made somekind of parley with them. Come to think of it, how does he know their language?''

That went through everyones head until Ace remembered something. ''I think it has something to do with the book he found?''

''What book?'' Usopp asked as he also found the courage to talk.

''The book he found near the alley in Katorea. First he made some weird sign with his hand and a chest appeared out of nowhere. In it being the book i mentioned, but i never saw its contents.''

''What did it look like?'' Zoro asked Ace where he was thinking about it.

''Didn't know your intrested in books.'' Nami said to him bluntly. She seemed to be the most calmed one in the small cell beside Ace and Zoro.

''That's none of you business!'' Zoro shouted with a tick mark on his head.

''Now that i remember it, the book was a old with a aged leather book cover.'' Ace answered.

Nodding, Zoro looked at the crew. ''I've seen him read it, there were those odd symbols and words with translations and the like. I managed to get a glimps on their ship and saw the same ones.''

''Their dictionary?'' A surprised Vivi asked.

''Something like that, since there was some explanation about different meaning on the symbol.'' Zoro shrugged. ''It wasn't my business so i let it go.''

''It was now 3 days since we left Katorea. I don't think you learn an entire unknown language that fast without some help atleast.'' Ace told them.

''I think i can answer that.'' Chopper said and gained attention from the prisoners. The reindeer had smaller cufs on his hoofs restraining his movements, but was still on his Chibi Point. ''Did he had those eyes of his active?'' He asked the swordsman who nodded. ''Figured as much...'' Chopper looked down in deep thought.

''What is it, Tony-kun?'' Vivi asked in consern about Ezekiels eyes since she was still confused about them.

Chopper looked at his nakama what Ezekiel dubbed as Doctor-mode, since the old hag also had one every now and then. ''There are a lot of nerves connected in his eyes, far more than any human should have with majority of them wrapped around his brain in certain parts. That was when he was unconscious back home, but couldn't get much because we were out of tranquilizer. Ezekiel-nii also told me that his eyes let him learn things faster among other things.''

Ace nodded at that, but found it hard to believe since he's never seen something like that. He was also skeptical about Ezekiel returning anytime soon to free them and he still had his mission of hunting Blackbeard down. Still, if he's brother trusted him that much, he had no other alternatives but to trust the Magician for now.

[?, Ezekiel's POV]

''I give you guys one thing, your really one fucked up people.'' I said in my usual language as i gazed around. Currently, we were underground, like in under the desert and the sand is just mocking me up there, hanging and not crashing onto me. ''Look! Its not falling!'' That got some attention from the guards as they were about to shoot me, but a glare from Mr. Big-shot got the thinking twice.

''(Hurry up, outsider!)'' Pokey called and i restrained myself from going on a rampage by the constant poking.

''(Stop poking me or you'll find that gun deep in you ass!)'' Usually i didn't lose my cool, but the guy just keeps getting on my nerves here.

''(You have the guts to threaten me, i'll sh-!)'' He was cut off though by Mr. Big-Shot's words.

''(Kianu: Desist.)'' He said sharply and with a tone that promised retribution. ''(Elder will decide his fate, so act like a proper warrior.)''

I sniggered at his name. ''(Would your last name be Reeves?)'' Kianu scowled at me. ''(Just asking no need to be so butthurt about it.)'' There were some small sniggering fromt the other guards directed at Kianu.

Our walk continued and i began to take a look around. The whole place reminded me of Zion from the movie Matrix, but much smaller with a lot of rocky houses. People around were extremely wary of me as they looked at me with hate and if i'm correct, resentment. It wasn't new to me of course, being exposed in one got its pros, but that didn't mean i enjoy it.

As we passed the sand-colored 2 storey houses we eventually arrived in a much larger 4 stories high building. Walking into it, the place was what i expected with its usual machinery and pipes surrounding the building. _''They must have a underground water source nearby, how convinient.''_

What i noticed was the people were wearing mostly leather garments probably from hunting animals for food and clothing. Those were fashionable as there were all kinds of different colors and now that i noticed, were kinda cool around here.

Walking in what i assumed to be a elevator with two guards saluting to Mr. Big-shots presence gracing them in the much larger building. What i found funny was the elevator music and sniggered again. ''Its a shame you don't have any David Bowie, that would've made my day.'' I said in my original language and took notice that my prisoners didn't understand any of my sayings.

Getting out of the elevator while whistling the tune of the music here, much to Kianus ire. I assumed that we were on the top floor since seeing the metallic door with two robed figures guarding it gave me a feeling that i'm not going to like whats behind that door. Mr. Big-Shot nodded at them and opened the door to us where i saw a huge fountain with clear water coming out of it. Green plants, stone statues of snakes and a small lake with a bridge over it leading towards a man watching the underground village through a window.

The person turned around and i saw a old 70-year-old man holding a staff that had a cresent moon attached to it. He wore a large black silky robe that was open and reached his calf that showed his brown leather boots. His robe was open and revealed a large leather belt that was strapped in his mid torso. The old man had a long white beard and a black hood similar to mine that hid majority of his face.

''(Ah, Izaiack, how are we today.)'' The old man asked as Mr. Big-Shot made a deep bow.

''(Theres no need for plesantries. We have discovered an outsider, Great Elder. This matter needs your immediate attention.)''

''(And i guess that this boy has something to do with it.)'' The now Great Elder said, but i'd still call him old man from the 'boy' name.

''(Him and 8 individuals that has been spotted in our territory.)''

The old man wasn't happy about that. ''(I see...)'' He then turned towards me and was intently studying me.

''(He also understands our language.)'' Izaiack said.

The old man was visibly shocked and even though he was a stranger with a potential to kill everyone of us through one word. My consern now was him getting a heartattack in front of me and giving him a CPR if the problem goes south.

''(Is this true, boy.)'' The old man looked at me.

''(Yes, but really, is this whole thing necessary. We absolutely mean no harm and just wanted to pass through. We didn't even know you existed until now.)'' I told him and was also getting peeved at this.

The old man looked at Mr. Big-Shot and gave him a glare. ''(Izaiack, explain.)'' He said sharply and the man complied after a few buts. I guessed the whole thing back at the cellar was just a act to scare me, which worked, because i didn't except him to stab himself. Well in his palm, but pegged it as cultural difference to act in front of turist and this is just a welcoming show.

Mr. Big-Shot explained that he did what we outsiders deserved and i rolled my eyes at him. _''Tell that to the people back home, i'm sure they'll understand.''_ Seriously, blaming someone about something that happened back in the old days is getting, well, old.

''(Is there by any chance you'll just leave us be, continue our lives and live happily ever after?)'' I asked as the old man was thinking while walking towards me.

''(I'm afraid i can't do that.)'' I was about to argue with him when he held his hand. ''(The only ones i trust are my people and while you speak our language and have the same experienced eyes, your still an outsider.)'' Crossing my arms with over my chest with a frown and looked around.

''(How about... a trade?)'' I said to him.

He stroke his long beard in though as Mr. Big-Shot stood next to him. ''(A trade you say, what do you have to offer.)''

''(Since i'm sure you could just steal my belongings here and now, i offer something that can't be stolen, my services.)'' I made a dramatic bow to him. ''(I see you use some power sources to maintain the life system here.)'' I pointed my finger at the window outside.

The old man let a small laugh that sounded a bit hoarse. ''(I'm impressed, not many are able to see through that.)''

_''Not many without the Sharingan.''_ I thought and was wondering what the others are doing at the moment. _''Their either worried about me or talking smack about me.''_

''(Tell you what, boy.)'' My eyebrow twitched. ''(That sounds like something that could be useful, its not like i have to lose any men of mine anytime soon.)''

''(What do you mean?)'' I asked curiously.

The man started to walk towards the sofa nearby and sat with a heavy sigh from standing too long. Another person walked through the door and i saw a flock of blonde walking with a stack of notepapers. I shrugged and walked towards the opposite end of the old man in sofa and leaned on it.

He took a sip from his tea that the girl that occupied here offered him with a medication. ''(We've lived here for dozend of decades, undisturbed from the day our forefathers banishment. While i'm not exactly proud of the cause of their acts, i am proud though about their perseverance to survive thus creating this underground village for us and others like them.)''

''(How did they-)'' I was about to ask how'd they keep the sand from not falling onto them, but the old man held his hand.

''(That, i'm afraid, is our business that we don't share with outsiders.)''

I pouted at him and leaned on the sofa. ''I presume its the same about how you maintain the life system here?)'' He only nodded, but i could feel he was humored here.

''(Anyways, we use this... _power_ to maintain the operations here and they are found through the desert. I always lose my men there because of the resident beasts around that are getting hostile towards any human they see or smell.)''

_''Not that i blame them, you guys deserve it.''_ I thought at their predicament and i knew what they wanted me to do.

''(About your services, you are to collect these power sources for us in exchange for your freedom. Izaiack here will escort you where we thought they are, but...)''

''(But?)'' I asked with a bit of wariness in my voice.

''(Its hard to get in there and you seem pretty confident of your abilities, so i see no problem why you should decline, not that you have much choice here.)'' I groaned in frustation that humored the old man even more.

''(What do they look like?)'' I asked about the power source.

The oldman stood up and went towards one of the snake statue and opened it maw where i saw the sandy-yellow orb with the X-mark on the middle. What was different was it was paler in comparison to what i had. ''(We call these one here, Desert-Globe. There are many more of them around here and the world. We need these to keep surviving from the dangers.'') He said proubly while he, Mr. Big-Shot, Pokey and the two random guards were looking at the Globe in wonder. ''(Bring on of these per your comrades and you'll be freed, i give you my word as the Great Elder.)''

Scratching my head in confusion that there was another one of those orbs and they had name. I summoned my own of these Desert-Globe i found back in Erumalu without the weirdoes noticing. ''(You mean this one?)'' I said holding it in my hand.

It was funny seeing their expression, but i was disappointed not seeing the old mans reaction under the hooded robe. ''(H-h-how did y-you g-get that?)'' Pokey stammered as i looked at my Globe with intrest.

''(Near the ruins in Erumalu.)'' Mr. Big-Shot widened his eyes despite the tough-guy posture he surrounds himself. ''(Thats beside the point, i have one of these and i can free one of my comrades, right?)'' I asked the old man.

''(I am a man of my word, but you still need 8 more and i tell you, their not that easy to find.)'' The old man smirked or it seemed from the slight twitch from his beard. ''(Tell you what, boy. Since we really need those Desert-Globes, you get one of your companions to keep you... company.)''

I narrowed my eyes at him. ''(What about the rest of them?)''

''(They will be taken care off...)'' The old man let out his hoarse chuckle. ''(Though, it depends, if you'll live to meet them.)''

''(Since i'm not really in the position to argue here...)'' I threw my Desert-Globe to Pokey who hastily grabbed it. ''(...You got yourself a deal.)''

''(Wonderful.)'' I could tell he was pleased... about me dying to save my friends that is.

Thankfully i managed to persuade him to move my pirate comrades to a more comfortable place. He accepted it by locking them up in another Kairoseki cage, this one being much larger with tables and four beds. As a precaution, i made their dinners for them and was now making my way to see them as i sighed in frustation. ''They had to bag their heads while making our way to the 'new' prison, damn meatheads.''

Luffy and Usopps shouts weren't helping here as the villagers were looking at us with disgust. The fromer shouting food all around and to free me... in that order.

As i was pulling the huge tray with food, i saw Mr. Big-Shot near the prison door where the guys were. Now that i noticed, he was head taller than me with brown hair and eyes. He had a rifle strapped to his back with three diffrent guns on his waist and a shotgun on his thigh. The guys wore a shit load of ammunitions as a belt that was strapped in his left leg, arms and torso. Spotting me, he stood in front of me with a scowl on his scarred face.

''(I'm supposed to escort you which means that i'm _helping_ you collect the Desert-Globe to my people. Do know that this isn't a sign of friendship or anything and i'd rather kill you than let you leave this place alive.)''

I flashed a smile at him. ''The feelings mutual.'' I said in my language, much to his ire as he didn't understand a word i said.

''(You said you found the Desert-Globe in Erumalu)'' I nodded at him and saw that he took a deep breath. ''(Have you by any chance seen my brother there?)''

I raised my eyebrow at him and thought about telling him what i found, but had a better idea. ''(There were some intresting things, yes, but i'm not obliged to share any of my information with you.)''

He growled at me. ''(Why's that?)''

''(I have my reasons. I could tell you, but only if you can _assure_ me that my friends won't get any hostile treatment while i'm gone.)''

He thought about it for a while ''(So this means you found something there?)''

''(I might've found few intresting things.)''

He narrowed his eyes at me. ''(Fine, but i want to hear everything.)''

I smiled at him. ''(Sounds reasonable to me.)'' That said i pulled the tray through the long sement corridor. ''(Names Ezekiel by the way.)'' There wasn't any need to give my lastname to a guy that wants to kill me.

He nodded while we still kept looking forward. ''(Izaiack.)'' It was silent after that until we saw a large double door with two guards talking with Pokey. ''(Get in while i install some... manners.)'' Izaiack grinned as the guards opened the doors and i could see that they gulped seeing him with his grin.

''Are you sure he's not a traitor? I'm currently chasing one and is a worst kind of backstabbers in the world.'' I heard Ace comment and narrowed my eyes at him.

''Ezek-kun wouldn't stoop that low!'' Nami defended me and i chuckled, gaining their attention and snapping their neck at my direction.

''I've been called many things, but traitor is a new one to me.'' I said as i stopped in front of their cage with the food tray. They all ran to see me with smiles and few smirks.

''Ezekiel! Where have you been?'' Luffy shouted with a smile and i could see they weren't hand-cuffed as there was no need.

''Just doing some businesses here and there.'' I smiled while thinking how to drop the news.

''What business?'' Nami asked me.

''My service in exchange for our freedom. I'd say i made quite the bargain... don't you think so, Nami-_chan_?'' She actually blushed when i added the suffix on her name and began to plan how to tease her to death once were out.

''What service?'' Sanji asked and i could detect the jealousy in his voice. I inwardly sighed since i really wanted to start from clean slate with him if were supposed to travel.

''I need to collect few power sources for the peeps so they can let us go or kill everyone here on the spot.'' They paled at that and i chuckled a bit. ''I already had one with me which means one of you has to accompany me to collect 8 more, any volunteers?''

''Yosh! Me the Great Captain Usopp-sama shall-!'' Usopp began but i managed to cut him off.

''People die where were going.''

''-send one of you to help Ezekiel.'' Usopp looked at Zoro who noticed that.

''Like hell i will!'' Zoro shouted as he plopped himself to one of the beds. The guy probably wanted to sleep now that they had beds available.

''Tony-kun?'' I playfully asked him and saw him shudder and hide behind Zoro now that i'm over here. Chuckling, i went to the small hole in the cage and began sending the food treys to Sanji who took them. He then looked at it and gave me a stare. ''What?''

''Have you checked that these aren't poisoned?''

I groaned and began to rub my head. ''I made those myself so eat and choose who'll come with me.''

''Couldn't you get something better for the girls?'' There was mostly meat for the guys and i made a nice chicked salad as i knew the gals aren't much of a fan for meat as Luffy.

''Try to be a bit more apreciative will ya. The food was scarce, i was constantly monitored and they didn't even let me use a normal kitchen.'' I slicked my hair back, something that my Master banished from my behaviour and came back to haunt me now. ''Don't worry though, i took extra care into making those.''

The guys were already eating their food and the girls took a small bites before eating in a normal pace. I was still wondering what Izaiack was doing and briefly looked behind me.

''These are really good, Ezekiel-san.'' I heard Vivi compliment my dish. Turning towards her, i gave a warm smile.

''Thanks, i'm glad you like it.''

''Did you learn this when you were working in the restaraunt?'' Nami asked this time.

''More or less.'' I smiled at her direction and looked at the guys were finished with their grub. ''I see you have some questions, i'm i right?''

''There's one.'' Sanji asked. ''How do you know their language?''

I shrugged and summoned the dictionary from my wristband seal and offered it to him. ''Its all in there and i presume Tony-kun explained the effect of the Sharingan.'' I stated and got a nod from our Doctor.

''I also want to ask something.'' Usopp asked. ''Why do they hate us?''

''I thought about it and the only answer i could come up with is that their stuck in the past, living a life of hatred and tradition.'' I said and saw Usopp nod at me.

''Do you know where we are?'' Vivi asked me this time.

I didn't know how to answer that and sheepishly scratched the back of my head. ''If i do tell you, would you believe me?''

She was confused as the rest of the prisoners. ''What do you mean.''

''That were deep below the desert, like way deep. A rough guess of mine would be about 2km under, more or less.'' They were gaping at me with their eyes popped out and i couldn't help but laugh at their expression. Even the calm and collected Ace and Zoro were dumbfounded. ''That could explain why theres a cool temperature and they seemingly found a underground source of water around here.''

''It seems that we have no choice, but to comply to their request.'' Sanji sighed and i threw a pack of cigarettes with a tinderbox. He gave me a nod and started to light the small cancertube.

''Anyone feeling lucky today?'' I asked in a cheery voice as Izaiack and Kianu arrived.

''(He'll take care of your buddies, hurry up and let's move.)'' Izaiack snarled at me and back at our prisoners.

I turned to a shivering Kianu and asked in a slow voice. ''(What bugs crawled up his ass?)'' I pouted as i didn't get an answer from him and saw Izaiack standing in front of the cage with a set of keys.

''(Choose!)''

''(Okay, okay. Chill man, no need to be so-)'' He gave me a death glare and i visibly gulped since the older man was being serious. ''So guys, ehm... Who'se coming with me?''

''I'll go.'' I looked at the voice and saw a equally serious... Luffy setting his straw hat. ''As a Captain, it is my responsibility not to let my crew members do everything by themselves.'' I grinned at him, finally his taking this whole damn thing seriously... for now unfortunately.

''It seems that i can't argue with you now can i?'' I got my answer as he slammed his fists together. ''(He'll do.)'' I said to Izaiack who nodded and opened the cage to let Luffy out.

''Let's do this!''

**[To Be Continued]**

A intresting turn of events here. I always thought that the desert pirate chapter was boring and all ao this one will mix things up. And yes, this will set off a major butterfly effect that we'll see sometimes later.

The orbs are now identified by their colors like sandy-yellow Desert-Globe and you'll see the Purple, Black and Blue later. I don't know much about naming and the like so this'll do unless you have better ideas. I might explain the full potential of the desert one in the next ones as i'd like to keep you confused.

You guys deserve it, admit it.

I'm currently thinking that should i add more character Point Of Views (POV) here. That also remains to be seen.

And why Luffy you ask? Simple; funny and rubber. I have already planned about Ezekiel's Sharingan maturing and why the hell does he understand animals, so don't worry, i got this. Though, few reviews and ideas wouldn't hurt.

This chapter might've come fast to some and i had fun writing so it didn't take as much time as i thought. I even started to draw Ezekiel just for the heck of it, but never works!

So yeah, have fun reading, review and if you still didn't get my note at the beginning. Read KuroHi91 Dragon Slaying Pirate? - Me gusta mucho... (Don't know if i said that right since my Spanish is nonexistent, so i apologize to anyone i insulted.)


	29. Forced Job

**Chapter 29: Forced Job.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Wastelanders Undergrond Village, Ezekiel's POV]

After we got Luffy out of the cell. I had to stop him from pummeling Kianu after he started poking me with the gun for no reason. Believe me, i would've let him, but knew now wasn't the time and the baldy would get his share of karma.

''Calm down Luffy.'' Nami began as she sat on the bed near the door. We both turned to see the caged pirates and saw that Nami had more to say. ''Just listen to Ezek-kun and get us out of here fast. This bed isn't for my taste at all and i need a more comfortable bed.'' Sanji had hearts in his eye by what Nami said and demanded that they'll get Nami a decent bed.

''Will do.'' Luffy said as he mysteriously calmed down.

''You'll have a lot on your hands, buddy.'' Ace said with a small chuckle as i narrowed my eyes at him.

''I have a feeling that this is going to get much worse than it already is.'' I said and slicked my hair back once more. ''It can't be helped, but oddly enough, i don't regret about Luffy accompanying me.''

''(Get moving!)'' Izaiack snarled at me.

''Always in a bad mood are ya?'' I said and got a small laugh directed at him. Shrugging at his death glare, me and Luffy turned around and made our way to collect the Globes.

''Good luck, Ezekiel-nii!'' Chopper cheered and i waved my hand over my shoulder as the door was closed behind us.

''What's it like in here?'' Luffy asked and i raised my eyebrow. Was he attempting to make a small talk with me or just plainly asking. Couldn't tell.

''Its pretty cool down here. I guessed it has something to do with either the power source or that were far away from the suns beating stare.''

He shrugged and began to look around in wonder. I chuckled since he looked like a kid that just noticed that their kidnapped and woke up in a Disneyland. Or so i thought.

Walking for a while, we came in a huge clearing with the drillmachines neatly in line. The bigger ones were at the back with the drills pointing up and few smaller ones that were yellow colored. I sweatdropped at their size, since it looked like a damn smart car also with a drill on its front and window at its sides. I was confused how were going to navigate without a front window.

''(We call these Brevirostrate or just Brev's.)'' He said proudly and i facefaulted at the name.

''Good name, genius...'' I grumbled as i slowly stood up.

''What name?'' Luffy asked as he looked at the vehicles with starry eyes and drool escaping from the corner of his mouth.

''Brevirostrate means 'Having a short nose', seriously.'' I looked at Kianu and sniggered. That earned me another poke with the damn rifle he now changed after Luffy broke the last one.

Shaking my head, we both boarded the Brev's with Luffy sitting in the back and me at the front. Izaiack also boarded and took the seat with the buttons and something that made me laugh. _''A joystick, are you effin' kidding me.''_ I sniggered and also took notice of the screen that showed us the front of the vehicle.

''(What's so damn funny!)'' Izaiack shouted and pushed a few buttons. The engines started to cough and i was worried that it'll blow up. Mostly because of my own safety since i don't have a nice memory about coughing vehicles.

Thankfully, that was it as it started to purr nicely like a decent vehicle should. Then, just then, i was scared shitless by the next action. Izaiack drove forward, fast and was about to collide with the end of the sand barrier.

''AAAAAAAHHH!'' Me and Luffy screamed and the grin from our driver was starting to get me nervous. I closed my eyes and the first thing to came to my mind was Nami exchaging her clothes back in Logue Town. _''Great, my life flashes before me and thats the only thing that comes to mind.''_

I still held my eyes closed until Luffy started to shout. ''Sugooooo!''

I was wondering what was so 'cooool' that got my Captains attention. Opening my eyes, i was momentarily conflicted with myself as sand surrounded the side of my window. Looking at the other, it was the same for Izaiack. It felt like we were in a submarine, but instead of water surrounding us, there was lots of sand all over the place.

''(Afraid?)'' He asked as he pushed few buttons more and light came out around us. I didn't reply to him. OF COURSE i was scared, we were under the friging desert!.

''(No, i was... uhm.. bracing myself)'' I tried to save some of my dignity.

''(Yeah, sure. Tell that to your girlfriend.)'' He laughed when i looked away with my face heated up and a scowl. ''(Figured as much.)''

''(Oi! She's not my girlfriend!)'' I protested, but it came more as a muffled protest that didn't sound very convinsing. He was about to say more, but Luffy saved me by shouting he saw a fish.

''Can we eat that?'' I looked where he was pointing and saw a rock-headed fish that was glued on Luffys side of the window.

''Your still hungry?''

''A bit...'' He pouted.

I shook my head and saw the fish now glued to my window. Now that it was closer, the thing was about the size of my arm. It blinked a couple of times as it vanished back on the sand. _''Weird.''_

Our treck continued for a little while until Izaiack drove the vehicle downwards after a beebing sound from the radar. He explained that we'll arrive in a clearing of sorts and the little fishies were the least of our problems. Pulling the joystick... _''I can't even say that in a straight face... joystick.''_

Yeah, he pulled it up and next thing we knew. We were surrounded by rocks and were in the middle of the sand we just drove through. Getting out of the Brev, we started to look around the place.

''(Okay, the first Globe should be nearby. Go and look for it.)'' Izaiack commanded and i reluctantly did so.

''What are we looking for?'' Luffy asked me and i forgot to mention what the Globes looked like.

''Its a mystery ball, if you see a yellow ball with a X-mark in the middle, thats what were looking for. Got it.''

He slammed his fist in his palm with a nod. ''Find a mystery ball it is.'' That said, he ran forward and started to smash around.

''Easy there, Luffy. You might survive if this place collapses, but the rest of us won't.'' Well, the good thing was that he stopped... only for a while, till he began to give the rock slower yet stronger punches. I went to the other side from Luffy and began to power up the Raiken (Lightning Fist). The good thing now would be that my punches were weaker than Luffys, but atleast i won't be the cause of our death.

Looking at Izaiacks direction, i supressed a laugh at his expression. He was completely baffled by Luffy and me just smashing around. I would've been too had i lived in a undergrond complex nearly my whole life. I already acknowledged Luffy being stronger when it comes to fighting in his own area, but i still have my Ninjutsus and Sharingan to even the odds, for now. Not to mention my weak ass Genjutsus against his weak ass mind, but that should change once he gets some training in the use of Haki.

_''Just need to get the brat motivated enough and not to rely on his crew. After the time skip, i'll be sure to have a small spar with him.''_ That in thought, i slammed my fist hard in the rock and saw a glowing yellow orb.

''Oi! Found one!'' I yelled at Luffy who stopped looking around and ran towards me.

''So this is the mystery ball?'' Luffy said and kept looking at the Globe.

''(Good job.)'' Izaiack said. ''(Give it to me.)''

I, of course, wouldn't let him have it and sealed the Globe in my wristband, much to his shock as it vanished in a small cloud of smoke before his eyes. ''(You get these in their time, scarface.)'' He scowled at me, but didn't argue about it. Looking at Luffy who still had those star eyes on, i knocked on his forehead a few time to get his attention. ''Whats so intresting?''

''Magic!'' He yelled and i sweatdropped at that. ''That was so cool!''

''Uhm, thanks?'' I was confused about that. I remember showing him that trick dozen times, but apparently he really is a little kid.

What confused me even more was that Luffy began to smash around some more. ''(What is he doing! Cut it out!)'' Izaiack yelled.

''Oi! Luffy, stop it! Your going to cause a cave in!'' It was true as the place started to rumble and we both ran to the Berv's waiting for Luffy to stop. After a few seconds, Luffy stopped his rampage and also ran towards us. Closing the door, i hit him upside the head and shouted at him. ''What the hell was that all about shit-for-brains!''

He pouted at me and i felt my eyebrow twitch. ''I wanted to find the mystery ball too.''

I facepalmed and felt my blood pressure rising. ''There shouldn't be any.'' Well it wasn't true, but i guessed it since Izaiack was about to leave the place.

''Uh-hu, then what is this?'' He showed another of the Desert-Globe in his hand and i decided then and there, that i'm going to one day kill him. I took the Globe from him and did the same to it as the previous one.

''Nevermind, good job.'' I shook my head in amusement 'bout his weird actions. ''Just warn us next time you do something stupid, ok?'' He nodded and went back to see the same rock-headed fish that stuck in his side of the window.

''I wonder how it tastes...'' Luffy mused aloud and i looked at the fish who stared back at me. Our staring contest didn't last too long as the fish vanished back to the sand. ''Now you scared it off.'' The Captain pouted at me.

''Hell your talking about, fishies love me.'' I said and turned to the scowling Izaiack. ''(What are those by the way?)''

''(I have no idea.)'' He bluntly told me. I shrugged at him, not my problem that he starts to act all emo now. The guy should really start to grow up.

We stayed silent... well as silent as Luffy can get by pestering me to show him Magic Tricks on the small vehicle. Ignoring him for the sake of my sanity here, i looked at the weird radar and saw it was beebing where it marked our next location. This time our driver made a mad turn to the left until the same thing happened like the last time. We submerged from the ocean-like sand and got of the vehicle.

Me and Luffy scratched our heads in confusion. The place was more of a tunnel leading somewhere and it was pretty dark.

''Great...'' I sighed and took a torch from the vehicle. Lighting them up with a basic Katon from my mouth. After that was done, i spat a glob of fire to the ground.

''(The hell are you two?)'' Our driver said in astonishment

''(Last time i checked, we're humans. Some more than others.)'' Well i wasn't sure if i was anymore with these Chakra-abilities. I waved the torch to get a closer look around and saw few insects crawling here and there. ''(Anything you want to add before we make our move?)''

Izaiack got out of him daze and shook his head. I chuckled at him, the man tries to act all high and mighty with that alpha role he puts on himself.

''(Just get it on, i'll stay here.)''

I narrowed my eyes at him. ''(Your not going to leave us here to die?)''

He smirked at that and the same time put that tough guy facade on himself. ''(I might.)''

I tought about it and that pretty damn sure sounded like a threat to me. ''(I see... then i guess you'll never find out about your brother.)'' I shrugged nonchalantly and saw him tense, much like i did when he set the dagger of his near my throat. He grumbled about something which i tuned out and motioned Luffy to follow me. ''How come your so quiet?'' I asked Luffy.

''I'm bored.'' He replied to me as we walked the tunnel.

''You? Bored?'' I asked incredulously.

''I'm also hungry.''

I deadpanned at him and sighed. ''No surprise there. I don't have much on me, but we'll eat in a minute once this place is clear out of danger.''

He brightened up and held his fist in high. ''Yosh! I'm ready to begin!''

''Calm down or do you want to cause ANOTHER cave in!'' I also shouted and felt the place tremble for a moment until it calmed down. ''Okey, no more yelling.'' Luffy also nodded and we continued our adventure in the dark tunnel. It wasn't until much later when we found the Desert-Globe just lying on the ground.

''Oh, there it is.'' Luffy ran forward and grabbed it. He first looked at it in amazement and handed it to me. Sealing that too in my wristband we walked forward. ''That was easy.'' Luffy grinned.

''Don't let your guard down. Those guys said that people either die or get lost and die. So might as well prevent both of them while were at it.''

''Are you always that gloomy.'' He deadpanned at me this time.

''What can i say. I used to be a pessimist, i always thought that optimists were absolute retards in every aspect.''

''What makes you say that?''

''Its written, see. Nothing good comes from expecting something good to happen just like that. You have to work for it to happen. It worked for me a couple of times and i've never regretted it.'' He gave me a dumbfounded look and i couldn't help but sigh.

As we walked a bit further we came along a decent spaced area with some stalagmites lying around the place. These ones were weird as hell as they were spiral shaped and were going up towards the ceiling of the tunnel. Scratching my head, i decided that i should draw these later for the others.

Flickering my Sharingans a bit to get the memory of the place for my documents of our adventures. Even though i don't use it frequently. The Dojutsu lets me memories things like places, faces and writing. How else do you expect me to remember all the hand seal for different Jutsus.

''Hey, i see something.'' Luffy said and pointed up ahead. I activated my Sharingans once more to zoom in and saw another Desert-Globe. This one was on top of the highest stalagmite we were currently gazing at it. ''What now?''

''There shouldn't be any problem, so you could get it for us. Just stretch your hand will ya.''

He nodded and did as i explained our next course of action. Not many seconds later it was in his hands and i sealed that too in my storage. ''This is way too easy.''

''Yes it it, but keep your eyes open at all times. Others are depending on us and we can't afford to screw up here.''

We looked around a bit more and saw that it was actually getting a lot darker in here than before the stalagmite area. Looking to our left, there was another long tunnel and walked over there. I saw that it was starting to get more and more narrow here until we reached the end of it.

''This is it?'' Luffy said and looked around.

''Might as well be, but lets make sure that were not missing anything.''

We began to move the few rubbles around the place. The result was not so pleasant as there wasn't any Globes lying around.

''There's nothing hereeeee~!'' Luffy whined and began to stretch his back down with his head facing up. ''Nani? (What?)'' Luffy said, still keeping his eyes focused on the ceiling.

''Hn?''

''There's something stuck in there.'' He pointed up. I looked where he kept his eyes and saw that there was another Desert-Globe stuck above us.

''Well i'll be damned.'' I muttered and also looked at the thing stuck in there. ''I'll go get it.'' I began to channel Chakra to my sole of my feet and walk up to it. Standing upside down and crouching. I took a Kunai and began to infuse it with Wind Chakra. Since i didn't have my Katana with me to up it a decent notch. I had to use Fire Chakra with it and let me tell you, focusing on the two was extremely difficult. I was worried that i'll blow this whole place up, but in the end, i got the damn thing and sealed it.

''Yosh! 3 more to go!'' Luffy grinned as i plopped down in front of him. ''Can we eat now?''

Sighing, i took my other scroll that i managed to scavenge before my forced mission. There wasn't much since i had two large bentos with me. Poofing them to existence and giving one to Luffy who eagerly aplauded at the small show. The portion wasn't big, but i thought it was enough for my Captain not to complain for a while.

''100% meat, no vegetable nor rice and others stuff.''

''Sugoi! Another reason i wanted you in my crew!'' He pointed his finger at me. ''From now on, your my Secret Meat-storage!''

I sweatdropped at my new position in the crew, but was amused to see him tear the meat after that. I also began to eat and imitated his eating style. Gotta say, i had fun eating like that since Master forcefully installed some manners in my brain. The reason being that the old man, who would never admit it, liked to brag about me to his ninja buddies. That was what Yamada-sensei told me in Masters funeral. He usually acted as Masters assistant and was about twice as old as Izaiack.

''Are you going to eat that?'' I heard Luffy address me and saw that he already ate his bento. I looked at mine and it was half-eaten. Even though i was a bit hungry, it would be benefitical to sate the rubbermans hunger. So as to save myself from the future headache that i was sure, would be because of him doing something reckless, i gave it him.

''Only if you promise to eat while we walk back.'' He furiously nodded with that dumb grin of his and we went back to see if Izaiack probably left us to die in here.

''Ezekiel. When are you going to make us those 'batzas'?''

I was confused what he meant by that. ''Batzas?''

He made that thinking pose of his as he swallowed the meat he was prosessing. ''The flat sandwich with meat and all. You know, the one you made for us when we met!''

''Oh! You mean pizza?'' I asked as Luffy nodded again. ''Sure, just ask me next time when were back on our ship.''

It went like that with Luffy asking me more about the mystery spiral stalagmites. I couldn't explain him why their spiral shaped, but came with an excuse that the Globes might have something to do with it. Those damned things were still a mystery to me.

''(What the hell took you guys so long!)'' Our driver shouted.

''(Easy there old timer.)'' I said and got a death glare from him. ''(We found a bunch of those Globes and we only need 3 more.)'' He widened his eyes for a moment, but luckily didn't ask me more about them. We only had to wait for about a minute more for Luffy to finish the meat chunks.

This time as we drove through the sand. The fish that was following us now banged its head on the window. It didn't aim to break the window just to get our attention.

''What does it want now?'' Luffy asked.

''Maybe it wants to play?'' I said to myself, but i was pretty sure the rock-headed fish tried to... warn us? Not really sure, since i was still doubtful about me understanding what Carue was quacking about earlier. When i said that, the fish vanished back on the sand and the radar started to beep loudly.

Izaiack made yet another hefty turn and we pummeled down once again. The place was like the previous one with a larger tunnel leading forward. I took the last two torches with me and lit one of them. The other was just incase something bad happens around us.

We walked forward and this time we were accompanied by Izaiack saying that he's curious. If he dies on us, its his fault. I never told him to follow us and were not exactly in good terms with one another. What was funny was Luffy annoying the hell out of him and since they couldn't communicate was just a plus to it. We stopped as we heard some screaching noises up ahead and nodded to each other to see what it was.

There was lighting up ahead and i decided to distinguish my torch. I could always lit it up again later. Walking silently towards it and looking over a rubble, our eyes went wide and i felt like vomiting. What we saw was a bunch of four-legged beasts with black sharp claws. The skin was all rugged brown with deep scars, they were bleeding green liquid that i thought were their blood, but wasn't sure. There were about 7 of them with no eyes and nose, but you could see the long set of teeths covering most of their face except their forehead.

''What are-'' Luffy was about to say when i clasped his mouth shut. Since the monsters couldn't see us, they took a deep breath and started to growl menacingly in our direction. Now that i saw clearly, they were eating what i thought was a larger than average lizard.

''(Shadow Ghoul)'' Izaiack said i shock and i thought that they must be dangerous for him to act like that.

''Seems like we interrupted their meal...'' I said bluntly and saw Luffy made his way to them and bowed to them.

''Forgive me for interrupting your meal.''

Me and Izaiack facepalmed at the same time. He does have some of Aces traits on him for being polite. Just then the Ghouls lunged at Luffy who dodged to far left. Since there was a lot of space around us meant that we could freely divide and beat them. Briefly looking around, i spotted a campfire a bit further away, so the lighting wouldn't be much of a trouble.

I heard a few banging noises and saw Izaiack shooting at the Ghouls with his shotgun. One of them died and the other hogpiled him and was about to eat his face off. I would've helped the guy out if it weren't for the fact that 2 other jumped at me.

Activating my Sharingans, i easily dodged the swipes from them. Since the Ghouls were clumsy and relied on their claws i had no trouble dodging them. Summoning a pair of Kunais and holding them in reverse grip, i block another swipe with them and kicked the thing in the torso. As the first one flung away the second one jumped over his buddy and tried to pin me down to the ground. Rolling out of the way and succesfully dodging the one i kicked tried to bite my hand. I took a good look at them as we observed each other.

''So...'' I started to make a conversation despite the problem. ''You guys come here often?''

My answer was replied by a growl and another dozens of swipes. I swore when one was near my face and had enough as i jutted the Kunai in my hand in its forehead. The Ghoul writhed in pain before lying on the ground unmoving. The other one was about to run at me, but didn't get much far away as i summoned 4 Shurikens and threw them at it. The same happened to his buddies as he also fell down after the Shurikens found their place in its torso.

Looking at Luffy who already knocked out one of them and had a bit of a trouble with the next two. Summoning a Fuuma Shurinken, the bigger version of the normal Shuriken. This one was folded as i focused on the jumping Ghoul that was about to decend on top of Luffy. Unfolding the Fuuma Shuriken, i threw it straight at the Ghoul. This one tried to defend itself with its claws, but was futile as the Giant Shuriken embedded in it torso on stuck the thing in the tunnel also writhing in pain.

I saw that Luffy was done with his and looked at Izaiack who slammed his shotgun at the Ghouls head. That gave him some space and he aimed the shotgun in the monsters huge sets of teeths, where he shot a hole in the back of its head.

''(Damn things ruining my day!)'' He growled and i decided that i wouldn't annoy him... for now.

''Whoa, these guys are tough!'' Luffy said as he began to observe the one he knocked out. Unfortunately, Izaiack saw that it was still alive and shot its head off with a scowl. Luffy thankfully saw that and moved away. Not disturbed by the things green blood all over the place. He then walked over to me as looked at the lizard. ''Do you think its the fishies mother?''

''It could be. I don't know, these freaks popping around just rubs me the wrong way.''

We shrugged at that and i lit my torch again at the campfire they made. Come to think of it, how did those Ghouls even make fire? Dismissing the thought with a shake of my head, Luffy began to shout once more.

''Oi! I found the mystery ball!'' He waved the Globe at me with a grin. ''How many left?''

''Two.'' I gave him a fist bump and he eagerly accepted it with his own. ''You seem to have a nose for those, impressive''

He grinned at my praise and it made him look more of a kid than he already is. ''Its nothing, they have this weird feeling around them.''

I was curious about it and was determined to find out more of it later. ''Great, do you happen to know the next one?''

He sniffed the air and momentarily sweatdropped at him acting like a bloodhound. ''This way.'' Luffy said and walked forward.

''(Does he know where he's going?)'' Izaiack said as he examined the dead Ghouls near us.

I looked at Luffy with a small smile as i followed him. ''(He might be onto something, just watch.)''

There were more of those strange stalagmites and rubbles lying around. We had to climb over one as the tunnel was now large enough to fit a huge football field. Then out of nowhere the place started to tremble a bit and we steadied ourselves while looking around. Finding nothing unusual, we walked forward, but much more cautious until we came across a puddle of sand. As we neared it, something jumped from it and smashed straight into my face, knocking me down with huge force.

''Ouch! Oi! Who the hell did that!'' I shouted and looked around until my eyes landed on Luffy... holding something.

''Hahahaha! Look! Its the fishie!'' Luffy shouted, still laughing at me. Izaiack wasn't on the same wavelenght as him as the undergrond cow-boy aimed his gun at it.

''(Tell you friend to let it down so i can shoot it!)''

I was confused and looked at the creature. Now that i got a closer look, it was actually a lizard. The sand must've covered his limbs and tail, but that didn't explain the rocky head. His was brown, but not the same rock brown colored that surrounds us. The baby lizard looked at me with a pout and i instantly fell in love with it. Walking towards HER, as i just found out, jumped on me and circled my torso with her tail. She lied he head on my shoulder with her claws piercing my robe.

''Cool, i wanna hold her too.'' Luffy piped in as the lizard gave me a lick to my cheek with its pink tongue.

''In a minute Luffy, we must come up with a cool name first.'' We both too a thinking positions on the ground and the lizard looked at us curiously.

''How about... Yakiniku?''

Me and the lizard sweatdropped at Luffy. ''Grilled-meat, are you serious?'' I said and our unnamed lizard hissed in disapproval. ''I'd say her name should be, Jeffy-Pooh.'' That earned me a tail swipe to my head from our lizard. ''Okey, okey, i was kidding.''

''(Will you two stop it!)'' Izaiack shouted at us in utter frustation.

''(Chill old man...)'' I said as our driver got a tick mark. ''(She's now part of us and won't cause any problems... i hope)'' I said the last part under my breath and gave a grin to the downed lizard, who seemed to understand us. I scratched it under her chin and got her in a good mood again. Or so i thought since she grinned at me, showing a set of sharp teeths.

After a long debate of abandoning the lizard with me and Luffy winning. We continued our walk until we came across a narrow tunnel, again. Turning to our resident lizard, who by now was in Luffy shoulder snoozing off. We saw anothe Globe, just lying there, unmoving.

''I'll go get it.'' Luffy said and was about to walk forward when i stopped him. ''Nani?''

''Lets not get ahead of ourselves, Luffy.'' I said and waved the torch around a bit to see it was yet another clearing, this one even bigger than the previous. ''This could obviously be a trap.''

''How could it be a trap?'' Luffy said incrediously, not believing me.

I took my Kunai and threw it near the Globe. Just as i expected... well i didn't but i had a hunch. The place rumbled once more, but this time it was much louder. Then something was about to emerge from the rock beneath the Globe and we braced ourselves until it bursted from the rock. The shock from it was enough to sent the Globe in my direction, where i grabbed and sealed it away. _''One more left.''_

I was happy at the moment that this wasn't that bad of a small quest. But no, fate wouldn't let me get away so easile, would she? A God damn snake was now visible to us with its green scales, one giant eye and fangs. The fangs weren't like the usual snakes, but one of a feline predator. Our unnamed lizard growled at it and i couldn't understand it yet, but felt her anger over something she lost.

The snake lunged at us and we jumped to different places with me backing away to distract it. The plan worked as it focused on me, giving Luffy and Izaiack enough time to attack it from its sides. As i kept dodging with my companions attacks doing nothing, i started to throw three Shurikens at its eye. It closed it just in time to block the projectiles with it eyelids that were also as hard as its body scales.

Grunting, i jumped on top of it where the snake started to trash around. Channeling my Chakra to my feet as to not fall of the snake. I wen't into a quick 5 sequence hand seals and set my palms on its head. ''Raiton: Jibashi! (Lightning Release: Earth Flash!)''

The Lightning Jutsu i used on his from this close set him into a fit of rampage around the cave. Luffy shot his Gomu Gomu no Bazooka on its middle while Izaiack shot it with his rifle. That only sent the snake into another fit animalistic rage and managed to get me off its head. I was now standing upside down on the cave, the snake being directly 'above' me. Since the other two guys were distracting it, i took my so called 'sisters' spear and threw myself with it straight at its eye.

With a sickening squishing noise, i knew that i hit the target as the green slimy blood gushed out of the eye. The now blind snake started trashing around until it gave away and fell in front of Luffy. Our lizard took of and ran at the snake, where she started to claw at it. We watched it for awhile until it came with our last Desert-Globe wrapped in its tail. Me and Luffy started to jump around in joy as we got the last mystery ball.

Our victory dance was interrupted, by a sound of trembling around us. Looking at the panicing Izaiack, who trembled in fear gazed on us. ''(We have to get out of here! The place is going to collapse!)'' Just then, rocks started to fall on us and i lit another torch that i had in me.

I looked at Luffys direction where i saw the scene of the lizard snuggling at the rubbermans skin from his shoulder. ''Luffy, we leave. Now.'' I got a nod in reply, oddly enough, from both of them.

Running back to our vehicles, we came across more of those Shadow Ghouls snarling at us and as the place started to get worse by the second. We didn't have time to play with them so Luffy started to Gatling Gun them all for few seconds. That was enough for us as even more rocks started to fall.

I swear, the place where we parked the Brev felt like it was much further away than it should've been. We didn't stumble in more of those Ghouls and the ones that were following us ended up underneath the falling rubbles, hopefully never to be seen again. Still running, we finally saw the drill vehicle nearly sunken to the sand, but was enough for us to get on. Our lizard went back to lounge in the sand, much to our displeasure.

''Whew, lets NOT do that again.'' I wiped my forehead from off from the sweat i gathered. After what i said, it was once more silent as Luffy and me tried to spot our new friend, but she never came back. Aside from that, i was glad that we finally collected the Desert-Globes and we can get the hell outta here. What surprised me was that we were a good far away from the Wastelanders HQ.

Emerging from the sandy wall of the Wasteland parking lot. Me and Luffy were escorted back to the old man who was surprised to see us.

''(You look like you've seen a ghost, old man)'' I grinned, but that earned me a poke from Kianu and i was close to just maim the guy into a bloody pulp.

''(Just caught me off guard.)'' He said and i was saddened that i still couldn't see his face beside the long beard and the hood. ''(Do you have them?)''

''(All 9 of them, yes...)'' He was about to motion me to give it to him. ''(First, i want to see my friends AND get one of those drillmachines to get us back to surface.)'' I saw he was thinking or i thought he was by the beard he was stroking. It made him look much older than he already is.

''Ezekiel, can you ask him to get me more meat?'' Luffy inquired and i just shrugged. It was worth a shot as i was getting hungrier by the minute.

The old man looked at me what i thought was a smile. ''(I think we can arrange that, but on one condition.)''

I groaned in frustation at him. ''(What...?)''

The old man looked around and waved his hand for the guards to leave. He then looked at Luffy and then back at me. ''(I'd like to talk with you... alone, if its possible.)''

I shrugged once more and turned to Luffy. ''Luffy, how about you follow the guards and see if you can find us something to eat.'' As i said the magic word 'eat'. He vanished and looked for our guards to get something to munch.

Me and the old man walked back to the sofa. I wasn't in the mood to act properly in front of the rude old man and leaned on the sofa with my dirty boots on the expensive looking sofa pillow. If he was disturbed by the sight, he's either furious and masking it or just plainly ignoring my behaviour.

''(I'm aware you have a Cursed-Globe within you.)''

I raised my eyebrow at that. Did he mean the purple orb thing i found months ago? ''(Cursed-Globe?)'' I said with a raised eyebrow.

He nodded and began to stroke his beard again. ''(Mmm, yes. You have that running through you veins as we speak. I'm surprised that your not dead.)'' He blached out and i was starting to get nervous about the fact. ''(That's why i want to offer you... a little help.)''

''(I thought you don't help anyone except your fellow Wastelanders.)'' I stated.

He waved me off with a small chuckle. ''(Just want to do something good once in awhile.)''

''(Why the sudden change of heart?)'' I asked skeptically with narrowed eyes.

''(You see, i don't have much time on me and i've come to accept my fate.)'' He looked down and i hated to see the old man saddened.

''(I don't understand. What do i have to do with all of this?)''

''(Seems like i've taken a liking into you.)''

I sweatdropped at him. ''(I don't swing that way, old man.)''

I finally got him to sputter and my chore of the day was complete. ''Thats not what i meant!'' The old man shouted, not in his language though.

''Oh! So you _do_ know our language.'' I smirked and thought about blackmailing him. Something i think i picked up from spending too much time with Nami.

He was getting slightly paniced. ''I kinda forgot.''

I pinched my nose in a slight agitation about this whole ordeal. ''And to top it of, your a senile, great.'' Shaking my head to get rid of this new found information, i consentrated on the previous one. ''About the Cursed-Globe...'' I beckoned him.

''Oh, yes. Am i to assume correct that your aware that it is also a power source, much like our Desert-Globe?'' I nodded at him.

''Yeah, it has something to do with will power and the like to get something out of it.''

The old man nodded, still stroking his beard. ''The power also corrupts the user in time. Tell me, did you feel anything unusual about yourself?''

''Beside the bloodlust and the eagerness to fight stronger opponents, those two are the only traits that have been increased these days.'' I said after i thought about it for awhile and pegged it, because i don't sleep much. The old man laughed about it and i narrowed my eyes at him. ''Just because your old doesn't give you the right to laugh at me.''

He once again waved me off. ''I'm sorry, its just that you don't see the Cursed-Globe accepting a host.''

''Wait, you mean to tell me that someone is housing me?'' The old man nodded and i was beginning to panicing.

''Relax sonny, i can help you with that.'' He said and i paid my attention to him instead of my arm. With a grunt, the old man stood up and walked towards the door. I guessed he wanted me to follow him and begrugginly complied.

_''I kinda liked the sofa...''_

Our walk was uneventful as the glares and whispers were around us. Though none of them dared to do anything about it, since the old man was near me. We walked until we came across a two-storey building with the symbols for 'Lineage'. That got me a bit of guard, but went with it. The inside was something you'd expect from a tattoo shop and the same blonde woman from before sat there, reading something. She kinda looked like the missing children of Niro, but this was older than the girl is supposed to be.

''(Naiara, its good to see you.)'' The old man said to the now named Naiara who looked up and widened her eye. With a jolt she stood up and bowed at his direction.

''(Its good to see you, Great Elder.)'' She said and looked at my direction with a sneer. I returned with my own glare that fixed her sneer into a scowl.

''(Don't worry about him.)'' The old man said. ''(He's just a...)'' He then looked at me and tried to find a proper word for this situation.

''(Co-operator, for now.)'' He nodded while the girl gasped in shock.

''(H-how d-does he...)'' She stuttered and i couldn't help but sigh. First these Wastelanders act all badass and the next they quiver like a kid who wetted its pants.

''(Its a long story.)'' The old man said and walked to the back room. There i saw a dentist chair surrounded by machines. My fear of doctors, specially dentist always gave me the creeps and i once thought that the sucktion machine was invented to suck my brain out. ''(I'd like you to fix his Globe.)''

She looked at me up and down with a calculating gaze. ''(Where is it?)''

''(Its inside him.)''

''(What variety does he have?)'' She asked with a raised brow.

''(A Cursed one)'' The old man said and the girl once again widened her eyes in fear where she backed away from me. ''(Relax, its not contagious so theres no need to be scared of him.)''

''(But, he's still dangerous and a outsider to boot! We can't trust them!)''

I rolled my eyes at her and just sat on the damn chair while the old man came with a threat at her if she starts to rebel. He seems to be highly respected around here. She still looked at me with a sneer and the whole your outsider thing.

''(Is there something i have to do now?)'' I asked and ignored her glare.

''(Shirts off.)'' She bluntly said and i shrugged. I took the robe and my long sleeved white shirt off where i wrapped the sleeves of it around my waist. Looking up, i saw she was blushing and kept staring at me. I snapped my fingers in front of her to get her mind off something i don't want to know at the moment. ''(Uhm, lie over the chair and i'll do the rest.)''

I complied and i was about to relax when the paranoid started to kick in. _''What if they try to kill me? The old man wouldn't since i have the 9 Desert-Globes with me, but the skank would.''_ Without anyone noticing, i summoned a Kunai out of the old man and the troblesome womans vision. I was ready to dispatch of her if it came to that, but for now i would co-operate with her.

At first she took a pencil and started to draw some weird tribal tattoo on my left shoulder and there to my bicep and arm. I first thought that its just a routine thing of hers, but when she applied ink in a weird tube with a needle. I instantly knew that i was going to get a tattoo and felt kinda weird about it. Never in my life have i though of getting one much less this soon, but if it helps me then who am i to say no.

She first made a spiral in my left shoulder and continued making the tribal mark tattoos down to my bicep. From there it went to my arm where she made yet another smaller spiral. The whole thing didn't hurt in the slighest and she complimented me about it. All the animosity gone replaced with something aching to respect, but i could be wrong. She took a pause and re-filled the ink, where she continued her work.

I gripped my Kunai harder and was tense as hell when the pain increased. That didn't go unnoticed by my tattooer as she gave me a glare.

''(Will you relax? I won't slit your throat open, jeez. Men these days.)'' She said and shook her head while consentrating on her work. I didn't know what kind of tattoo i'll get and i could feel that Naiara was being careful on her work. What surprised me was that she tried to converse with me. ''(So...)'' She began. ''(How old are you?)''

I averted my eyes from her as her breast came into my vision. ''(Eighteen.)'' I replied, a little nervously i might add.

''(Youngsters these days...)'' She sighed. ''(I didn't get your name handsome.)''

''(That's cuz i didn't give one.)''

''(Oh c'mon now, were friends here.)''

I was confused now. ''(You were the one that threatened me just minutes ago!)''

''(Do you know what this tattoo means?)'' She asked me and i shook my head. ''(It means that your our ally and seeing that Great Elder helds you in a high position is a plus here.)''

_''So thats why she's being nice to me.''_ I thought and re-summoned my Kunai back as the slightly elder woman was harmless. Well, as harmless as she can be with a needle pointed to my skin. ''(What do you mean i'm your ally? I never agreed to being one!)''

''(You did provide us a generous amount of Desert-Globes. Weren't it for you, we might've been buried under all these sand.)'' She shook his head with a light chuckle and smiled. ''(So i'm grateful.)''

''(If the old man says so, then i guess i'm your ally.)''

That remark earned me a flick to my forehead. ''(Don't call the Great Elder old!)'' She shouted at me and stood up. ''(Now, it should be finished so i want you to stand up slowly.)''

I nodded and slowly stood up. My skin felt like it would burn off and i walked towards the giant mirror on the opposite of the chair. What i saw blew my mind, literally. There was first the spiral tattoo on my shoulder and it was going downwards with beautiful sharp lines going around it.

''(This. Is. So. Damn. Cool!)'' I shouted in glee. I grinned at myself and felt much better when the black tattoos glowed purple.

''(I'm glad you like it. I hope it shows that we don't hold any grudge against one another.)''

I smiled at the old man. He really seemed like he wanted to do something good and who am i to deny that. ''(If you say so. Does this mean we can leave now?)''

''(Oh yes, of course. Let me walk with you to your friends.)''

Naiara also wanted to add something. ''(I want you to let the ink dry itself on the skin, so you can't put on your robe for... about 20 minutes.)''

I sweatdropped at that. I always thought it would take longer. Looking around, i saw where the mystery ink came from. It was one of those black orbs i found from the Ravagers brain. I shuddered a bit, but since Izaiack also had the same, it shouldn't be too dangerous. _''Note to self: See if you can use that stuff as a medium for my own ink.''_

Me and the old man plus Naiara were walking back to the cellar where the pirates were. We got a briefing from Kianu saying that Luffy was already with the others.

''...and you should've seen the snake! It was enormous with one huge eye! Me and Ezekiel beat it around and made a run for it since the whole place was about to crash on us!'' I heard Luffy tell them our little story.

''Then where is he now?'' Sanji said and was smoking his last cigarette, mildly paying attention to Luffys story.

''Didn't know that you of all people would've missed me.'' I said as we four walked in. Waving my tattooed arm around with a grin at them.

''Since when did you get a tattoo?'' Nami said from the cage in astonishment and if i'm not mistaking, i light blush creeped out on her face. Vivi had the same blush on her and i heftly laughed in amusement at their expression.

''Its brand new, Nami-chan.'' At that moment, i think i found a new hobby of teasing her to death by the intensified blush.

''(Kianu, open the cage.)'' The old man said with authority in his voice. It must've been because he didn't want to show any weakness to his suborbinates. Kianu just nodded, but didn't get much far away when i stopped him.

''(I'll do it, hand over the key.)'' I said rudely. Since the first time i saw the guy, i just wanted to beat him to the ground for messing with me. He looked at the old man who nodded and begrugginly gave me the key. Walking to my nakamas + Ace, who walked away and nodded at me.

''Those are soooo coool!'' Luffy praised with stars in his eyes and was imitated by Usopp and Chopper. I showed it off and thought that Karen would've also liked my tattoo since she also has one.

''Why would you get one?'' Vivi asked and she was, as always, worrying over nothing. The blush was still there as i continued walking around shirtless.

''Well for startes it would've been rude not to accept it. This tattoo is a sign of friendship around here and besides, i can see you like it.'' I said and did some ridiculous poses in front of the pirates

''(Okey tough guy, you can pull your shirt back on.)'' A flustered Naiara said and i chuckled. Putting my shirt on that i craftly tied in my waist, i did the same to my robes. I saw that Nami pouted in front of me and i narrowed my eyes at her while muttering something about perverted navigators, thankfully she didn't hear me though. Unfortunately for Naiara, Sanji saw her and went into his love-cook mode.

''Oh beautiful flower of the desert have i waited thy for too long. Your man has finally arrived to be thine knightof your dreams.'' He said and got a rose from out of nowhere. I laughed at the scene, since Naiara was confused about the language barrier between them.

''(What did he say?)'' She asked me to help translate him, but i decided to have a little fun with the both of 'em.

''(He said that your the most ugliest old hag he's ever seen and would be glad to get away from this hellhole you call home.)''

She was furious and i had my time of fun-pills today watching her punch Sanji in the head. The cook flew straight at the cage with a groan and i laughed at the whole thing. It was just too damn funny! I motioned Kianu to pick our weapons and supplies that they confiscated from us. The baldy guy was actually a scaredy-cat in front of me. Maybe it had something to do with Izaiack telling stories about our short adventure.

''Can we leave now?'' A frustrated Zoro said as Kianu handed him his three swords, much to his confusion. He probably never saw someone carrying three swords. He then gave me my own and was still hesitant being near me.

''Bo!'' I shouted and scared him of. Laughing at him for good 10 seconds and easing myself, i felt my Katana and Tanto pulse in obvious displeasure. _''I know i shouldn't have let you to the bad men, but i also didn't want any unnecessary ruckus.''_ Triton seemed to understand that, seeing as i had a good reason why i didn't let them attack the guards. The problem here, was Yama-chan as she said that i betrayed her and let ugly men touch her. _''C'mon, i didn't do such thing.''_ I got a small cut in my palm and winced a bit. _''Alright alright, next time i visit i'll do something nice for you, cool?''_ I didn't get a reply and took it as sign that i was almost forgiven.

Walking out of the cellar with me walking beside the old man and Naiara, conversing something about the Globes and their different varieties. Looking back at the pirates who were awed at the sand on top of us, surrounding the place like a gigantic dome. The drillmachines weren't so highly looked up to because they already saw them. As we got near them, Izaiack came running towards us.

''(Oi! Ezekiel!)'' He shouted with a grin that fit him. The man hid himself in a deep scowl all the time and the fake alpha aura vanished. ''(I heard your now our ally.)''

I nodded at him. ''(Is that the only thing going around?)''

''(Yeah, pretty much. People here wanted to see you)'' He said and just in cue a massive line of people came out of nowhere and waved at our direction.

''Well, thats surprisingly new.'' I said as i rubbed my head in embarrasement at the cheers and whistles.

''Seems like your quite the famous one.'' Ace grinned.

''Who said their cheering for you. They all came to see the Great Usopp-sama's departure.'' Usopp boasted, but got depressed when the people shouted my name. I didn't know what i did, collect few Desert-Globes with Luffy and i'm now loved by them. I then remembered about the Globes and took them one by one. I set them all in the empty wooden cart that Kianu carried. The spectators were amazed that i just popped them out of nowhere and the cheers got louder.

I turned to the old man and rubbed my head in embarrasement for asking this. ''(Hey, if it isn't too much to ask. Can you guys give me a empty scroll, a brush and ink?)''

The old man was confused, but told one of his guards to fetch it up for me. ''What are we waiting for? Can't we just leave?'' Nami said in frustation, she apparently had enough of not knowing whats going on around here. Minute later, my tools were brought in front of me and the courier bowed at me. The scroll wasn't really that big, but it'll have to do for now.

''In a minute.'' I replied to Nami and got infront of the unfurled scroll on the ground. I felt that the crew got closer to my back to see what i was doing. There wasn't really much to see as i scribbled the usual storage sealing scroll. Standing up and handing the leftover ink to Kianu, who was quite the whole time as were the audience who looked at my art in confusion. ''(Do you have any food and water for us? Sorry for being too needy about these.)''

He just waved my conserns off. ''(Nonsense, we help each other out and consider this...)'' He showed me the maids carrying a huge load of food and water for us. ''(...as a apologize for our hostility towards you and your friends.)''

''(Its nothing, really.)'' I smiled. The old man wasn't lying and i've come to really like him. In a grandfartherly way of course. Pulling the two barrels of water to my scroll and some of the food i managed to cramp in there, the audience were amazed once more.

''Looks like we won't have to worry about food for a while.'' I heard Sanji say as he packed a majority of it and gave some to Zoro to carry. The swordsman wasn't happy about it, but did as he was told.

''You sure are something else, Ezekiel.'' Usopp said behind me as i rolled the scroll and got a bit feeling to it.

''He sure is! Unlike someone we can name.'' Nami praised me and turned to Luffy with a glare. The Captain probably told them the whole story in the undergrond cave and him getting us nearly killed in the first cave.

''I'm glad you think of me that highly, but its nothing, really.'' I seriously need to do something about my shyness from being complimented by her. _''I might end up like Tony-kun here.''_ I patted Chopper hat when a sudden realisation came to me. Walking over to Izaiack who was now smiling with the blonde tattoo woman, i addressed him. ''(Yo, i think i need to explain something to you, about Erumalu.)''

''(What about it?)'' He asked me curiously

''(How to start...)'' I began to think how i should tell him, but came to the conclusion that i should be honest at him. ''(The whole city is in ruins. A massive sandstorm hit the place hard, BUT...)'' I added the last part a bid loudly as the man was getting depressed. ''(The people there were evacuated in time with few prescious lives lost. Those men risked their lives to save other people and i couldn't recognize any resemblence between you and your brother from there.)'' I made a deep bow at his direction. ''(I'm sorry for installing false hope into you.)''

I could've added more, but the guy waved me off saying that he understands. Sighing in relief, we all went to the bigger version of the Brev and kept shut for about 5 minutes. Surprisingly, the old man was with us and we talked even more about the Globes, but his knowledge on them was limited to those that reside here in the desert.

Looking around at the crew, i saw that Ace was conversing with Zoro and Chopper. Sanji was thinking what he did wrong with his swooning, Luffy and Usopp were pestering Kianu, Nami was just looking around at the machines. _''It wouldn't surprise me if she takes a few souviniers with her.''_

I shook my head and saw that Vivi was spacing out on us while patting Eyelashes. Shrugging, i shut my eye for a quick relaxation until we hit the surface.

It didn't take us long to finally emerge from the undergrond sand village. Once we were outside, i took a deep breath and saw that it was getting late. Looking around, i spotted a small outcropping a small distance away and nodded to myself. _''We all could use a small rest there''_.

''(Our path end up here, sonny.)'' The old man said as i walked over to him.

''(Yeah, despite being a major dickhead, your still cool in my book.)'' Instead of bowing to him like his suborbinates, i gave the old man a light hug. ''(You remind me of someone who used to be a very important figure in my life.)''

He returned the hug with one arm as he held the staff of his with the other. ''(Its nothing. Oh, and we have even more presents for you.)''

I pulled off the hug and gave him a glare. ''(Isn't that a bit too much?)'' He shrugged at me with a air of indifference and looked at Naiara. She had a small backpack with her and gave it to me. I thought against it to open it now and waved at them as we walked away.

''What a weird bunch of people.'' Usopp muttered with a heavy sigh. Glad that the whole thing is over now.

''Don't be so harsh on them, their just doing what was necessary for their survival.'' I said to him.

''Guess your right.''

As we walked towards the outcropping ahead, i was bombarded with questions about me and Luffys small adventure. It was more like Luffy explained more with me correcting some of the scenes. We laughed when i shouted about me forgetting my weapons there.

''Its not funny! Do you know how much one of that costs!''

**[To Be Continued]**

That ends that filler and we continue towards Yuba now! At first i though that i should make a shorter chapter, but decided against it and went with it. Tell me how you like, cuz i'm not really proud of this one. I thought that i can get this one before Xman, but got a little carried away in some other events.

About the picture, i guess i have to find a base for it since i couldn't get a grasp of what i want Ezekiel to look like. But that will be done in its time, so patience here. If someone didn't get how the tribal tattoo should look like, google 'Tribal tattoos' and you should see how it looks. If you still have problem imagining it, i guess i have to draw that too...

Right, i've got nothing else to write here, so Happy holidays and the rest. I off to enjoy my vacation!


	30. Of Marshmallows and Scorpions

**Chapter 30: Of Marshmallows and Scorpions.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Outcropping, Ezekiel's POV]

After the departure from the Wastelanders. We took a break at the nearest outcropping i saw and set the tents for the night. I saw that Ace was lighting our campfire with Sanji preparing us the food we were provided. Luffy, Usopp and Chopper tried to build a sandsnowman in vain, Zoro was leaning towards one of the rocks and the girls were helping me set the tents. Well, it was Vivi who was helping me set the tent with Nami lazying around.

Not that i minded it, i really like setting tents or other camping equipments. It gives of the certain feeling of livingness, don't know how and don't care. As long as it provides me something to kill the time.

I've already settled the missing parts to the crew on our way here. Mostly about my tattoo as i said that its just a sign of friendship. It really wasn't, but they didn't have to know about that i'm more or less cursed. I feel much calmer than usual and began to stretch once the tents were set. After that, Sanji shouted to us that the food's ready and we made a half circle around the campfire with Nami and Luffy flanking me.

''Ezekiel, what were the things that attacked us back there?'' Luffy asked me out of random.

I thought about it for a second until it dawned on me. The damn beast with nothing but teeth, claws and somewhat high intelligent ''Shadow Ghouls, or thats how Izaiack claimed them to be.''

''Who'se Izaiack?'' Chopper asked from his spot nead Zoro.

''The guy that threatened me with the dagger.'' I shrugged. ''He was a cool guy though, despite the tough guy act he pulled off nicely.''

''He was acting?'' Usopp said. ''I thought he really meant that.''

I waved his conserns off. ''He could've, but i managed to get on the old guys good side and offered an alliance.''

''What alliance?'' Usopp asked again.

''Dunno, maybe he saw just how badass i am!'' I grinned at his direction and held my fist in the air.

''Oi! I did something too!'' Luffy protested that i didn't give him enough credit for our misadventure in the cave.

''You did try to kill us, so i guess that counts too.'' I pointed an accusing finger at him.

''I already said i'm sorry and besides, i also found one of those mystery balls!''

''Which negates that you did something. Meaning, you didn't do shit.'' I showed my tounge at him.

''No fair!''

''Will you two give it a rest.'' Nami told us both with a glare and i huffed. ''You still haven't showed us the backpack they gave you.'' She reminded me.

I snapped my fingers at the revelation and picked up my small backpack beside me. Rummaging around it, i took the first object that i got. Picking it out, there was the black Globe that Naiara used as my tattoo ink.

I grinned at it. ''Sweet! Now i don't have to look for it!''

''Ooh! Another mystery ball!'' Luffy beamed and snatched it out of my hand. ''Whats it do?''

I snatched it back from him, only for Nami to take it from me. ''These were the ones you looked for?''

''Nah, the other was yellow while this ones black. The blonde woman Sanji tried to hit on used that as a tattoo ink for my arm.'' I said and picked a needle and the tattoo machine device. I shurgged at them and searched if there was more cool things im there.

There was actually two more objects in it and i slowly pulled one of them. What i saw made my eyes wide and a huge grin formed on my face.

''Whats that?'' Sanji asked, still muling about the rejection. I didn't answer and was practically drooling at the object i held and shouted towards the skies.

''MARSHMALLOWS!'' I grinned and hastily opened the plastic bag. Taking one of the fluffy white goodness and stuffing it in my mouth with tears running down my cheeks. ''I haven't had these in 3 years. God how i missed them!'' What can i say. I was a absolutely fanatic when it came to sweets like marshmallows.

''Give me one too!'' Luffy said and took a handfull of them and also stuffed them in his mouth. ''Mmm... plushie..'' He seemed to like it when Usopp and Chopper also wanted some one. The reaction was the same as we four had content smiles while muching the whity delicacy.

I then remembered something and turned to the guys. ''Could you three get me a bunch of stick nearby? There's something i want to show you guys.'' I smiled at them. They probably thought that i'll show them a magic trick with the marshmallows and went to search the sticks with gusto.

''I'll never understand you.'' Nami sighed with slight annoyance and amusement mixed together in her voice.

''Please don't say such things, it wounds me.'' I feigned and held my chest in pain. She rolled her eyes and gave me a light punch to my should as the guys came with dozens of sticks. ''Alright, everyone take a stick and hand one over to me.'' The three guys did as they were told, i skewered the marshmallows with the end of their sticks and handed back to them. Since we were close to the campfire, i set Chopper to my lap as the guys looked what i was doing. ''Now, follow my example and try not to get burned.''

Carefully, i held the marshmallow over the fire as it caramelized it into a golden brown outer layer of goodyness goodness. It didn't take me too long to finish roasting the marshmallow and chew it with the most content smile i had in months.

''Is it really that good?'' Chopper asked as he looked up at me.

''I've never seen him this happy. Its scary.'' I heard Zoro mumble and felt the most of the attention to me.

''Cool! Let me try!'' Luffy said and i saw him plainly 'stabbed' the fire with the marshmallow, setting it in fire and was about to eat it.

''Luffy! Don't!'' I tried to warn him, but it was too late as he ate it wholly. He manage to much it two times 'till he felt the burn and ran around screaming.

''Hot! Hot! Hot!'' He shouted and i took a canteen of water to help him, but it was difficult as he ran around with his eyes closed and crashed the place upside down.

''Stay still and calm down!''

''It hurts!''

Me and Luffy yelled at each other with the latter in pain. We were both the center of the attention and all around came laughter directed at us. The rubberman became more like a brother than a anime character or my Captain. I guessed that this was what Ace had to endure back when they were kids.

After much laughing, i managed to grab Luffy and tend the reddened tounge with bandages. It was funny to see him like that with the pitiful expression since Chopper banned him from eating for awhile.

''Careless as ever, that Luffy.'' Ace shook his head. ''I'm sorry you have to see all of this.''

I ignored him as i helped Usopp and Chopper roast their respective marshmallows. After they were ready, i handed one for Usopp and the other shorter stick i made to Chopper.

''Careful, their still hot.'' I warned them and got a nod from both of them as they blew on their marshmallows to cool it down.

''Can you do mine too?'' Nami asked in that sweet mischievous smile of hers.

I raised an eyebrow at her behaviour. ''Can't you do it yourself?''

She, of course didn't know how to give up. Which was oddly attractive or that i'm getting too soft now from muching too much marshmallows. She edged closer to my face with her hands clasped together and the puppy dog look with tears in the corner of her eyes.

''Ezek-kun~ Pleasee~.'' She cooed and i was starting to sweat as she invaded my personal space near me. The woman was really lazy when she wanted and knew exactly how to mess with people, much like Karen used to.

I sighed in defeat as my real sister came to my mind ''Sure.'' Was the only word that escaped me and got a small cheer with a hug out of it. I briefly looked at the others that tried to imitate my movements on the pierced fluff candy. It didn't take me too long to finish Namis 'order' and gave me a succesful grin that she managed to 'persuade' me. ''Enjoy while you still can.'' I grumbled.

''Aww~ don't tell me your angry, grumpy face'' She pouted and there were few sniggers around the campfire. I had my eyebrow twitching in annoyance and looked away from here. That didn't help her to giggle and me prepared another marshmallow for myself. ''These are good, thanks.''

''Don't mention it.'' I said and tried to cool down my small desert. ''For the record, i'm not angry. Just... slightly miffed, i guess.''

She hit me in the shoulder. ''What got you so moody?''

''Excuse me?''

This time Vivi voiced her thoughts. ''You've been put off lately.''

I scratched my head with a questioning glance. ''Well, whatever it is, its nothing to worry about. Maybe i'm tired, is all.'' She's been lately worried about my health here and now. Not that i don't mind, but still. I shook my head to get rid off the thought. _''Its probably nothing important. She's worried about everyone here.''_

She seemed to let it go and began to roast her marshmallow. I laughed when Zoro burned his own coal black and still muched it with Sanji reprimanding him about not wasting food. There was also the fleeting moment of proudness in me when i saw Luffy, Usopp and Chopper roast their own marshmallows without burning them into ashes.

It went like that with me instructing the NOW eager Nami how to roast the candy. I felt my eyebrow twitch, but still went along with it. After that episode, they all went to sleep one by one and i tried to stand up when i felt a weight in my lap. Looking down, there was Chopper snooring with his blue nose twitching ever so slightly. It was cute and i decided to help the little guy to his bed inside the tent.

I heard bunch of groans and stirs from the male pirates. Setting Chopper on the available small bed and tucking him in. I then took off my pouch and leaned against a boulder a bit further away from the others. There i took my Iphone and headphones whilst listening to it where i poured the leftover Sweet Tea Sanji made. I put my hood on to cover my eyes and let myself relax by the music and the teas aroma.

I don't know how long i've spaced out, but it was enough for Zoro of all people to break it. ''Oi, wake up. Were leaving.''

I slowly opened my eyes and saw that i still had my Iphone in my hand with the headphones n' all. The music that i paused was 'Puscifer - The Humbling River'. Usually i don't listen to that kind of music, but it was relaxing and got me psyched to cross the desert once more. Looking back at Zoro, who offered his hand to me. I accepted it and grabbed the offered hand where he pulled me up.

''Thanks, i wasn't sleeping though, just was spacing out, i guess.'' I answered and got a nod from him.

''Sanji wanted you to store some of our supplies.''

I looked at Sanjis direction and he was just about to light a smoke. Nodding at Zoro, i walked towards tar-lungs.

''Good morning, yo! Heard ya need help.''

He glared at me at first and i was taken aback by it, but let it slide as him not being a morning person. ''Just do your thing.''

I could only nod at that since i didn't know what to add. Regardless, it took me a good 10 minutes to seal the supplies ready and put my robe on that i tied to my waist last night. I then began to strap my scrolls to my sash that i mysteriously found in the girls tent. Shrugging it off as Yama's prank on me, i began to do some light stretches.

After my normal morning routines, we began to march forward in our path once we looked at the map the Wastelanders 'provided' us. Though, it was more like Nami snatching it from the drillvehicle while no one was looking at her. We saw that they placed us near where they first kidnapped us and i though that it was just plainly a dick-move to use on us. _''They could've drove us straight towards Yuba.''_

Setting Chopper in my shoulders and cooling his hat into a more reasonable temperature for him. I looked around and saw that the sand we were in was a bit steadier than before. There must've been a sandstorm and started to stop on the small dunes.

''You're rather enthusiastic this morning.'' I heard Ace say as a means to start a conversation with me.

I just smiled while turning my head to his direction. ''Thats what marshmallows are for. If your gloomy and woomy in the morning, eat marshmallow.''

He shook his head at that with a slight sweat going down his temple. Probably from my answer. ''Let me guess, your Master said that.''

I feigned my surprise since that was what the old man says out of the bat. ''How did you know.''

He chuckled in amusement. ''Just a hunch.'' He paused a bit and looked forward. ''How's the tattoo?''

''Its alright. It stings if i strain in my movements, but its welcomed.''

''So your saying that your a masochist?''

I deadpanned at his direction. ''I just happen to have a high pain tolerance. I can imagine that you cried like a little girl when the Whitebeard's tattoo was aplied to your back.''

Ace actually laughed at that. ''It wasn't the most pleasing experience, but it was worth the trouble.''

I snorted at that remark. ''Didn't know you of all people were into that.''

If it was possible, he laughed harder and it was just so... un-Ace-likely. He then saw that i was glaring at him and tried to apologize. ''Sorry, sorry. You just bought back a supressed memory from my past.''

I raised my brow at him, still facing his direction. ''I hope it wasn't a bad one.''

He was stilla trying to regain his bearings. ''No, it was actually one of the good times.'' I nodded at him and thought that the guy wasn't really that bad. But the first impression of his still left a bitter mark on my books.

Ignoring the Fire Fist for now, i looked at the rest of the silent pirates except Luffys and Usopp dry pantings and Choppers silent breath on my head. Luffy began to drink some water from the small barrel-like canteen and accidentally spilled a small splash when Usopp tried to snatch the water from him.

''Look how much you spilled!'' Usopp shouted in light outrage as he watched the spilled water evaporate in the sand. ''That's wasteful.''

''It's no big deal!'' Luffy protested. ''Ezekiel's friends gave us a whole barrel full.''

''Their not my friends.'' I said offhandedly and expected that i was going to be ignored.

''Don't you have any sense of self-restraint! You've been chugging it down this whole time.'' Usopp told Luffy who looked away at the sharpshooters stare.

''This guy's gonna drink some too.'' I looked where Luffy was staring and saw that Sanji held another canteen of water.

''I'm saving this for when Nami-san says, ''Ah, i'm thirsty...!'', and at that time i'll have it ready right away!'' The cook said with the one visible heart-shaped eye and jogged towards the girls and the camel. I had to resist the urge to facepalm when Ace nudged me on the ribs and pointed to the scene. ''Nami-san! Vivi-chan! Would you like some water?'' He said in that chivalrous voice that mostly sounded douchy to me.

''You jerk! I'll drink it!'' Luffy shouted and went to the canteen carrying Sanji.

Nami thought about it for a second and looked back at Sanji. ''Is it cold?''

Me and Sanji were taken aback from the question as were Ace and Zoro, but the cook still answered her. ''No, its pretty warm actually.'' I mentally scoffed. The water was held in a leather bag and exposed to the sun. I wouldn't be surprised if the contents were boiling already.

Nami looked around a bit and stared at me for good 5 seconds. ''How much of those cold water you have with you?'' I raised my hand showed her 4 fingers meaning that i have 4 canteens left. I managed to fill the empty ones before leaving the outcropping and drank one myself. Nami smiled at me and set the camel back on the course.

I turned to Ace and hoped that i get a hint about what was going on, but was disappointed that i only got a stifled laughter from him. Sighing, me and Chopper walked forward while ignoring Luffy, Usopp and Sanji fighting about the warm water.

''Your certainly a strange man.'' I shook my head and took a small distance from Ace while cooling Chopper down a notch or two at his request. After that Vivi began to tell us her childhood story and some info about the Rebels. Since i already knew about it, i tuned the story out and focused on my Iphone

What woke me up from my game of Ninja Fruit was Usopp shout. ''It's huge!''

''Wow!'' Luffy cheered and started to beat the purple scorpion with Zoro and Sanji whilst me, Chopper and Ace just watched. And Usopp was panicing. Shrugging it off and continuing listening to Vivis story this time made me realise why she's always the worry wuss here.

_''She's afraid that one of us going to kick the early bucket, because the Rebel Leader Kohza said that he'll protect her to death. Now that i think about it, i made the same promise to Igaram. ''Protect the Princess... yadda yadda.'', i guess i can live with that.''_

''Ezekiel! This desert-shrimp is great! You lied to me!'' I heard Luffy yell at me while muching the now red scorpion that Ace scorched for them. Zoro threw me a piece of it and i just stared at the lump before shivering.

''Yeah, maybe this is great, but the one i had to eat was black and poisonous if not properly handled by the eater. I swear i can still feel the thing crawling in my bowels.'' I complained and turned around to see Sanji offering Nami and Vivi the scorpions giant claw.

''I DON'T BELIEVE YOU GUYS! QUIT SCREWING AROUND!'' Nami shrieked at us. ''Eyelashes! We're leaving NOW!'' She hastily told the camel and left us to ponder what we did.

''What's _she's_ so pissed about?'' Luffy inquired.

''Who knows...'' We all said at the same time with question marks hovering above us.

''Weird ass woman...'' I mumbled and stared at Namis retreating back.

**[To Be Continued]**

Nothing to write here... please proceed to review. The next chapter should come withing 2 days or less.

Now of to sleep -


	31. Problem Child

**Chapter 31: Problem Child.**

**Happy New Year 2012! Its been a wonderful year and i hope there will be more of it.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Somewhere in Arabasta, Ezekiel's POV]

''Did you guys have to drink the whole canteen by yourselves?'' I said and glared at Luffy, Usopp and Chopper who wanted to walk on his own. ''Do you have anything to say for your defence?''

''We're sorry.'' They said at the same time with heads bowed down.

''I'll think about a reasonable punishment for you three later.'' I grumbled and caught with the camel who gave me a thirsty look. ''No, you won't get a sip until the next resting place.'' Eyelashes gave this time a pleading look. ''You didn't warn me about those three stooges earlier, so consider this as your punishment.''

''Aren't you a bit hard on them?'' Vivi asked me, trying to ease my 'anger'. I mostly do these stuff out of humor on my part and irritation people and animal alike.

''Hardly.'' I muttered and took out my butterfly knife. Looking at it for a second, i started to toy with it. ''I'm just being conservative.''

I saw that the pirates were tense and stopped walking after i unfolded my foldable knife. They looked around as if to spot a danger that was about to hit us. I corked my eyebrow at their antics and saw that Usopp and Chopper were fearfully holding my on to my robes. As i stopped flinging my knife, they all looked at me in confusion.

''B-bring it. I'm n-n-not s-scared!'' Usopp stammered after few minutes of silence and looked around with tears in his eyes.

''What the hell are you talking about?'' I asked around and received a kick from the camel riding Nami. Even the camel was scowling at me.

''You got us all worked up idiot! Don't do that!'' She yelled at me with a glare. Something that i managed to return back.

''The hells your problem?''

She pointed at my knife that i was playing with. ''You usually do that when there's danger around yet there isn't! You worried all of us for nothing.''

''I was bored, so that's why the knife.'' I rolled my eyes at her. The scene would've looked like a couple arguing, not that i mind it. Yes, she's attractive and nice... troublesome, but still means well. I saw her eyebrow was twitching and i safely took my distance from her, much to her annoyance as i thought that she wanted to smack my head upside down.

She calmed down and continued riding the camel when Vivi asked me a question. ''Thats a strange knife you have. Can i see it?''

I looked at her direction and back at my butterly knife then back at her. ''Uhm, sure.'' I closed it and handed it to her. ''Careful, its sharp.''

I got a nod from her as he began to fiddle with it. ''Where did you get this?''

''It was a gift that was given to me out of gratitude by a strange stranger.'' I scratched my head in though that i infact saved a random pedestrian being ambushed by bandits. ''I liked him... or was it her? I have no idea.''

''Does this mean that your also a weapons specialist?'' Ace asked as he caught up to us. The guy's usually silent and walks behind us most of the time. When he has something to say, he either talks to Sanji or me. Mostly he does that out of boredom, but i guessed that he also needs some human conversations.

''Me? Naaah~, i mainly use them for intense close combat or if i'm tired to use a Jutsu.''

''Jutsu?'' Ace asked confused.

''You know, the weird stuff you've seen me do lately.'' I said to him and received a dumb nod on his part. I then turned to see Zoro who was carrying Chopper on his shoulder this time. The reindeer seemed fine in the heat after drinking the cool water he drank. ''Yo! Zoro-senpai!''

He looked at me with a slight annoyed look while i got a giggle out from Vivi. ''What?''

''I wanted to ask you which is more dangerous. A regular Katana or a reverse-blade Katana?''

He raised both his eyebrows at the same time. Probably didn't expect me to ask him a question regarding swords.

''Well, for starters a Katana is just a sword meant to kill people, while the other one is to avoid killing.'' Zoro said and i remembered an anime i once saw back when i was a kid. Rurouni Kenshin, one of the few reasons i practiced swordsmanship here and got some pointers from Master. Even though he said that i'm more of a extreme close-range fighter with fists and knives. ''Why's that?'' He said after a short pause.

''Just a thought.'' I said and saw that Vivi handed my knife back with a smile. ''I heard that it gives off the feeling of unpredictability.'' Zoro nodded and i folded my knife once more and stored it in my pouch where i grabbed my Iphone. ''Goddamit, need to recharge it.'' I grumbled to myself, but was heard by Usopp who looked over my shoulder at the device.

''Hey! I know that thing!'' He cheered and tried to snatch it away from me. I held it away from him and gave him a stare.

''Oh no you don't. Last time you deleted some important files of mine. I'd rather not give you this to tamper with.'' Usopp looked rejected and i ignored it where i began to fiddle with my Iphone. ''Think of this as _your_ punishment, Longnose-kun.''

''Hai...''

''Whats this?'' Nami asked and i was beginning to think that the navigator was too curious for her own good. As she reached out to grab my Iphone, i also held it away from her. This time close to my chest in a protective manner.

''No can do, Nami-chan. Its not something your delicate fingers can handle.'' I teased and got the cute but scary glare from her. She then took that mischievous grin at me and i narrowed my eyes at that behaviour. _''She has something devious in mind.''_

''If Ezek-kun says so, Ezek-kun is right.'' She shrugged and looked forward towards the sandy horizon. I gave her a confused look. That woman usually doesn't give up 'till she got what she wants.

''That was easy.'' I said as matter-of-factly, still wary of her behaviour.

''If i'd were you, i'd keep my eyes open. That devil in womans skin has something planned for you.'' Zoro warned me and i could only nod at that. The swordsman got a dangerous glare from Nami that sent shivers down our spines.

''You debt has just increased.'' Nami said, eyeing Zoro to dare talk back. Which thankfully he didn't or he would've blamed me on it. She then turned towards me with a smile that got me to hesitate for just a moment. ''Its a pity i don't have anything to hold against you. It would've been more fun to see you flustered.''

She and Vivi started to giggle while me and the guys were beyond confused. ''Women...'' We all said except Sanji who praised her for the torture move. Luffy and Usopp made a small prayer to me and grinned.

''Your going to get punished~! Your going to get punished~!'' I felt my eyebrow twitch at them and decided to ignore the dancing duo for the moment. They _will_ get whats coming to them after i dealt the grinning Nami.

I ignored her antics, but vowed to myself that i'll be on guard at all times. She's way too unpredictable. _''With the exception of money.''_ I added to myself.

We continued walking 'till Chopper climbed on my shoulder, saying that it was getting too hot for him. Once again cooling his hat, i noticed that there was a slight improvement in my Chakra control. Nothing big though, just enough to do the 'Cool Hand', as Chopper said, longer and more easier than before.

Speaking of Chopper, the Doctor was trying to get my attention for awhile now.

''Who-What?'' I asked around until my eyes landed on Chopper who leaned over to my vision. I raised my eyebrow at his unusual behaviour and looked at the still grinning Nami. ''What is it, Tony-kun?''

''I wanted to ask you about your eyes.'' Chopper said shyly. Probably thought that its as sensitive matter as his blue nose.

''Go on.'' I tried to encourage him to be more self-confident about himself. I felt that he gripped my hair a bit tighter with his hooves and patted his head to ensure him that i'm cool with it.

''Uhm, i wanted to ask you why's there 2 commas in your left eye instead the 3 i last saw.''

That piqued my intrest as the rest of the crews that listened to us because of boredom. I tried to come up with a reasonable explanation, but i couldn't. That has never happened in that Naruto show i _used_ to like before they started to add drama to it.

''I... don't know.'' I looked down and tried to remember more about the Sharingan. ''That wasn't supposed to happen. I get the third tomoe and it stays there, so sorry.'' I shrugged. ''I can't tell you how that part works.''

Chopper thought about it for a second. Or so i thought from the small humming sound from the Doctor. ''How do you train with it?''

''The usual. Clones throwing projectiles at me with weights on and other untrivial training methods.''

''Isn't that dangerous?'' Vivi said from her perch on the camel.

''It is, but it was worth it. I've trained my ass off to get where i am today.'' I pointed my fist towards the clear blue sky with a large smile. ''I've made a promise that i intend to held it.'' Grinning, i pointed my finger at Zoro. ''That includes fighting you the second you've earned the title as the Greatest Swordsman Alive!''

Zoro also grinned at my direction and slowly unsheated his Katana. As if to dare me to challenge him to a fight, right here and now. ''I'll look forward to it. Don't think i'll hold back on you.''

''Wouldn't have it any other way.''

''Oi! I wanna fight you too!'' Luffy shouted and ran towards us.

I thought to myself for awhile and snapped my fingers. ''Tell you what. I'll fight all of you once our dreams have been achieved. How's that sound?''

Zoro nodded with a grin and sheated the rest of his Katana with a audiable 'kilk'. Luffy pumped his fists in the air. ''I'll beat you to the ground when that happens, comrade or not!''

I smiled at him and at Sanji who also nodded, though not so eagerly as i expected. Chopper was conflicted about it, not sure what to make of it. I turned towards Nami and Usopp. The sharpshooter was quivering while Nami looked away, the grin of hers finally gone.

''Cheer up. Its going to be a light one-on-one spar.'' I tried to ease them up. A guy with scary eyes, can spit fire and and other weird stuff. I think i can relate to them. At least i got Chopper to relax, while the other two were oddly silent.

After that, it was rather uneventful silent walking until we saw a huge outcropping again. We decided to rest there and Sanji once more prepared us something small to eat. Zoro and Chopper sat on top of a small boulder while Luffy and Usopp sat on the ground annoying Sanji. Nami and Vivi sat a close from my perch on the highest boulder looking at the horizon.

''Mind if i sit here?'' A voice said behind me and i shrugged at it. Few seconds later there was Ace who took a spot next to me and stayed silent.

''How's your lead on Blackbeard?'' I asked out of curiousity.

Ace kept staring at the sandy horizon. ''I only have one and thats a guy named Scorpion. Rumors said that he's defeated him and i'm seeking information from him.''

I snorted at that. ''Where've you heard that from?''

''Some weird dude i've met.''

I laughed at that. The guy's as resourceful as Luffy or Zoro that it was funny seeing him walk through the desert because of a false rumour. Sanji shouted at us that dinners ready and Ace was about to stand up and get some of it until i grabbed his shoulder. Summoning a clone, i ordered it to fetch them for us so i can continue making fun of the feared Fire Fist.

''Why didn't you try a place more fitting for searching renegade pirates.'' I said as my clone handed us the stews and took a few spoonful.

''And that would be?''

I was about to take another spoonful of stew and paused it half-way to my mouth. ''Jaya.'' I mouthed and peacefully ate the delicious stew as silence reigned over us.

Few minutes later as Ace finished his portion before mine. The guy shook his head and scrathed his orange hat with smileys in embarrassment. ''Damn, didn't think of that.''

I laughed at him. Anyone who was humoring me was okay in my books. ''Don't be too hard on yourself, that happens to the best of us. Not me though.'' I boasted and got a laugh from him.

''Seeing as your around Luffy, you'll see yourself loosing couple brain cells here and there often.'' He mocked me and continued laughing. Thankfully his laughter was interrupted by Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and Usopp fighting about Luffy stealing peoples food. That was one of the reasons why i took higher ground from him.

''Guess your right.'' I sighed and felt a hand on my shoulder

''Cheer up, he could sometimes be from the slow side, but he means well.'' Ace said and offered me a napkin from his backpack. Nodding, i began to clean my dishes after finishing them while talking with Luffys elder brother.

''How's the old mans health nowadays?'' I asked him and saw him smile absentmindly.

''Stubborn as a goat when it comes to medicine.'' He grunted and looked at me in confusion. ''How'd you knew he was sick?''

I chuckled and decided to tell him a small lie before he suspects something. ''I asked how is he, like in piracy and is he still a member of The Yonkou and the like, but i guess that answer is fine too.''

He shrugged at that and set the clean dishes aside. ''How long have you been awake now?'' Ace asked about my lack of sleep.

''About a week... week and a half. Sometimes i ask myself: 'When will this day end!,' and the next thing i know, its been three days and it went by fast. That day left me completely confused.'' I laughed until i started to yawn with my arms stretched. ''Seems like its time to get some shut eye for me.'' I stood up and walked down the rocks using Chakra to stick to it.

Yawning one more time, i took my scroll and set it on the sand as pillow. ''Your sleeping already?'' I heard Usopps voice while i kept staring at the sky.

''Just a couple of hours... wake me up when were leaving.'' I got a nod from him and drifted to sleep, God it felt good.

[Flashback, 10 years ago, Ezekiel's POV]

''Alright kids, sessions over! Take off your gloves and orderly set it in their resignated shelves.'' The martial arts teacher said and for the record, a sappy bitch at that.

_''Who the hell needs boxing gloves for martial arts. I could've easily kicked someone in the head, but no, she said that none of us can use legs.''_ I thought and looked around the room. I was easily the shortest one and also the youngest here with the olders being 6 years my senior. Throwing the gloves in the shelf and leaving it as it was, the teacher aproached me with a scowl.

''Would you _mind_ picking up the gloves you left on the floor?'' She asked with a snarl.

I flashed her a toothy grin and walked away. ''Why? Its right there where your career also is, on the floor.'' I laughed and stormed past her. As much as i'd like to show off, she's out of my league with that hight of hers. I went to the guys changing room to get my stuff and run away from the place for my deserved weekend.

''Well well well, what do we have here?'' Someone said as i turned around. My eyes landed on three boys standing in front of the doors. ''Always causing mischiefs, just like the pest you are.'' Said a brown haired boy named Mick with his usual Karate gi i see every time i waste my time here. His two flunkies were also dressed in similar attire with black hair on both of their heads. Mick was 3 year older than me and the other two probably a year or two.

I could take on Mick with the result ending on both of us tired to continue, but this time it seems i'm screwed. This things have been going on like this for several months since i joined this hell hole of a dojo.

''What does a freak like you even want in here. You don't belong here, much less train with us!'' One of the flunkies said. I for once couldn't bring myself to remember his name as the other redneck.

''Yeah! Can your parents even afford paying for the dojo?''

I closed my eyes in supressed anger and knew that someone my age should feel something like rage or pure hate. They were already trespassing my limit of patience which was thin now. I opened my eyes and gave them a glance up. I knew they were here because either they wanted to show up on me or the teacher sent them here. I would go with the latter, but i don't have any evidence on it to proof my theory. She's always been a pain in the ass... the old hag.

''What do you guys want?'' I asked and tensed myself. That only got Mick to chuckle and walk towards me with his flunkies.

''Oh you know, the usual. Make sure you know your place!'' As he said the last words they started to beat me up for that reason only.

[20 minutes later, Outside the men changing room, General POV]

The older girl, who was the dojos senior student and sometimes acting as a second teacher, walked through the corridors of the two-storey building. The place was peaceful and her last charges of young students were already left home. That's until she heard noises from one of the mens changing room.

''That's weird.'' She said to herself. ''There shouldn't be anyone here except me, Master and the janitor.''

Curious as she was, she slowly opened it only to gasp in horror. There were three boys beating a younger individual. Not wasting any seconds, she dashed towards them and with quick chop to the older teens head stopped the unnecessary fight. She gave the other two a hard glare that got them to soil their pants and ran awayin fear.

''Thanks...'' A weak voice said. The older girl looked around for the voice until she spotted a kid slowly getting up on his feet. He looked about 8-9 years old with black hair and dark skin. The kid seemed to have problems getting up and she offered him a hand to balance himself. He looked at her suspiciously and narrowed his dark brown eyes at her.

''Oh, i'm sorry. My name's Susan, the one who helped you from those bullies.''

He still looked at her suspiciously, as if contemplating about the situation and observed her. She had a light pale skin, tomboyish red hair, blue eyes and white gi. Much to the older girls surprise, he ignored her. Limping towards his backpack, put his black jacket and shoes on. He walked towards one of the mirrors and stared at it.

There was blood running down his forehead and a nasty cut on his lips. Sucking his lip for a second, he spat a glob of blood to the floor and walked out.

''H-Hey! Your still hurt.'' She cried and went after him.

''What do you care!'' He snapped at her and cringed in pain.

''See, you need medical treatment! Come on!'' Susan shouted and grabbed the boys shoulder where she lead him into the dojo. Running towards one of the shelfs, she took the first aid kit and sat opposite the frowning boy. ''Your name must be Ezekiel, right?''

Susan was happy that she got some emotion on the boy, but as quickly as it came, it vanished and was replaced with hate. ''What's it to you?''

She started to clean the wound on his forehead and answered his question. ''Your our youngest student here and a prodigy in your area. Is that true?''

''I guess so.'' There was uncertainty in his voice, not believing that he had a reputation beside making trouble. Shaking his head to get rid of the possible praise, he looked at Susan. ''Why are you helping me?''

She raised her one eyebrow, something Ezekiel also copied and got a giggle from her. ''You looked like you needed a helping hand.''

''But why? Nobody does that.''

She scowled a bit. ''And why won't they?''

Fearful at her gaze and the way she's going to react to his answer. Ezekiel steeled himself and took a deep breath. ''Its because i'm different. I'm not like you and thus don't deserve to be helped. Or so the teacher says.''

They were silent for a minute, enough for Susan to bandage the boys forehead and arm. ''Is that so?'' She said in a evident anger. ''Does your parents know about this.''

He shook his head in negative and continued looking down. ''Dads always busy...''

''What about your mother.'' Susan asked and regretted after seeing him crying and put a compforting hand on his shoulder.

''She died giving birth to my brother and sister.'' He said and wiped the tears of his face and started to mumble to himself. ''Don't cry. If they see you crying, they'll cry too.''

''What was that?'' A worried Susan asked. Ezekiel fearfully looked at her and furiously shook his head. _''This kid got serious problems.''_

''I'm sorry for wasting your time.'' He said and painfully stood up. ''I'll take my leave.''

''Wait a second.'' She said with a voice that stopped Ezekiel from moving. ''I'll escort you. Its the least i can do.''

Ezekiel raised his eyebrow at her. ''I haven't done anything for you, why would you help me?''

She giggled and pinched his cheek. ''Three reasons: first, you're my student and second, you're not scared of me like the rest of these cows.''

Ezekiel raised his eyebrow once more. ''What's the third?''

Susan grinned and ruffled his hair. ''You're kinda cute.''

Ezekiel scowled at her and took a distance from from the giggling girl. ''Don't do that!'' He yelled, but that got her into another fit of giggles. Huffing, he slowly walked towards the door, far away from the girl. ''Weird ass girl...''

Susan shook her head in amusement and caught up to him. ''I can see your still in pain. Where does it hurt?''

Ezekiel looked at her for a moment. Studying her again with narrowed eyes and found no ill intent from her. Deciding to trust her for now, he sighed and fully turned towards her.

''...my left eye.''

[With others, General POV]

After the mishap with the fake bounty hunter Scorpion and his two kids. The Straw Hats gathered around and began to pack up when they noticed that Ezekiel was still asleep.

''So... who wants to wake him up?'' Ace asked around as he looked at the First Mate of his little brother. He was right about his lead on finding Blackbeard turning out to be a lie and decided to try his luck on Jaya. At first they didn't get along, but that changed and he could mostly relate to him beside his brother. Talking with Ezekiel was humoring and he knew that he would look after Luffy if he does something stupid.

''Someone has to wake him up.'' Zoro said and looked at the snooring Ezekiel.

''I would feel bad waking him up.'' Nami said with a look of pity.

''Can't we just leave him there?'' Sanji voiced his thoughts and got gasps from Luffy, Usopp and Chopper.

''We can't! He has all the cool water!'' The three argued with Sanji.

''I'll do it.'' Vivi said with determination, but felt bad disturbing his sleep. Crouching down, she gently shook his shoulder. ''Ezekiel-san, wake up. Were leaving.'' No reply and she shook a bit harder. ''Come on, were close to Yuba.''

She saw him stir and twitch his eyes for a moment until he opened them. What scared her was the cold, calculating red eyes that was filled with hatred and rage. He sat up and gritted his teeth in anger with Killing Intent leaking, scaring the crew. It lasted for about 2 seconds until his facial expression took one of sorrow and regret.

''I'm sorry...'' Ezekiel mouthed with his eyes closed. Opening them again, they were once the same coal black they usually were. Standing up, he took the scroll he used as a pillow and strapped it on his waist. There was two rapid pulses that came from his swords that he patted on the hilt. ''I'm fine, just...'' He said and looked at the setting sun on his right. ''...Its nothing.''

Seeing that Ezekiel was about to be interrogated, Ace decided to help him out. ''Alright then. Its time for me to leave.''

''What? Now already?'' Ezekiel asked.

''Yeah, Blackbeard isn't in Arabasta. There's no reason for me to stay in this country''

''Where are you planning to go next?'' Sanji inquired.

''Ezekiel told me that the best place to look for him would be at Jaya, but i decided to ask a guy that Scorpion said saw him. I'll try that first.'' Ace took a piece of paper and flipped it over to Luffy. ''Keep it with you, always.''

''What? It's just a scrap of paper.'' Luffy asked confused.

Ezekiel took the paper from Luffy and looked at it for a moment in thought. ''Oh, Vivre Card. Lucky you.'' He pouted and got few sigh of relief from the pirate crew. Glad to have the old cheery magician back. Taking Luffy straw hat and hiding the Vivre Card on Luffys red straw hat sash. He set it back and patted it with a smile.

''Luffy, that scrap of paper will let us meet again. Don't want it?''

''No, i do.'' Luffy said without missing a beat.

Ace grinned. ''Having a younger brother who's a bit on the slow side makes his older brother worry. He's probably going to keep burning your hands too.'' Ace said and bowed to the Straw Hat pirates. ''Take care of him for me. Luffy, the next time we meet will be at the Pirate's Summit.''

''Okay!'' Luffy grinned back at him.

''Come to the top.'' Ace finished when they heard a loud yelling somewhere. As the pirates waved at them, Ace was already gone.

''Huh? Where's Ace?'' Luffy asked and looked around for his brother.

''Left when you weren't looking.'' Ezekiel answered with a shrug.

Luffy continued grinning at the setting sun. ''It's alright. We'll see him again.''

''He better not cause any trouble.''

Sanji looked at his 'rival' for Nami's affection with a questioning glance. ''His not Luffy you know, shitty magician.'' What irritated Sanji about him was that he smiles whenever he insults Ezekiel. Not that he'll ever tell him that, but he was also worried about his health.

''Yeah, he isn't. It's not like he'll be the cause of a war where tens of thousand people die, right?''

Right?

**[To Be Continued]**

A little flashback from Ezekiel that i plan on continuing from there 'till he's 'matured'. I also planned to make his memory a bit foggy or that he remembers them fully in each arc. Maybe earlier as te story continues or too late.

I know that my writing sucks and i tend to get a headache fixing them. Maybe i'll fix them later when the infamous writers block hits me. Who knows,

Story Stats:

31 Chapters, 72 Reviews, 2421 Visitors, 185663 words, (A bit) OVER 9000 hits! That sure is a reason to fire bunch of fireworks to the night sky. Its been what? 2 months ago that i started this story and received these grateful reviews and PM's from others readers around the world.

I do plan to continue this story as much as possible, but do know that i might not update regularly as i did lately. Mainly because things got a bit hectic, unless i somehow speed write. Which i might.

About the picture of Ezekie. Unfortunaly, i had to use... *Sigh*... MS Paint. Yes, sue me all you want, but i can't seem to get any other programs on this computer. But i can tell you that it will give you a good description on how Ezekiel looks like. Daxter won't be in there since its a pain in the ass to draw his little furry butt, so i hope you can imagine it with your dirty minds.

Authors question: Should i write One Piece movies too?

Peace out and careful with those fireworks folks!


	32. Fruitless Mileage

**Chapter 32: Fruitless Mileage.**

**C'mon guys! Were close to 100 reviews!**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Somewhere in the Desert, Ezekiel's POV]

_''I feel like i forgot to tell Ace something important..''_ I thought to myself. I felt like i was missing something very, _very_ important. Shaking my head to get rid of the troubling thought, i steeled myself and looked forward at the sand dunes. _''Maybe i'm too hasty thinking things through now. They should happen in their time and its not like i decide these things to happen. Seriously, Oda-sama is as mysterious as... Revolutionary Dragon.''_ I shook my head again furiously. _''Okey, i admit. That was a horrible metaphor to use, even for me.''_

''Are you alright?'' A concerned Vivi asked and i snapped my head at her direction. Blinking twice to remember what she said, i smiled at her.

''Peachy.'' I muttered and leaned my head to the side, gaining a audiable popping noise from it. Next thing i knew, pain coursed through me and was registered in my brain. ''Itai, itai... i shouldn't have used the scroll as a pillow.'' I then looked at Chopper who was now being dragged by Zoro on a sleight made out of dried sticks. ''Tony-kun, do you have any pain killers on you?''

The furry reindeer jerked its head towards me. ''Look for yourself. Its on my backpack.'' His visage changed to a look of anger at me. ''Why can't you cool me down? I'm suffering here!''

''You've been sapping on my reserves for 5 hours straight!'' I said and would've continued if it weren't for Luffys shout. Looking at him, the Captain had comical swirls on his eyes and started to trash around he dunes.

''Hold iiit! Crocodiiile! I'm gonna kick your ass!'' Luffy waved his hands in the air. ''Oi! I'm a rubberman, y'know!''

''Whats his problem.'' Sanji asked around us.

''Maybe he's seeing a mirage?'' I tried to come up with a reason

''Honestly!'' Nami shouted in frustation. ''He can't be happy unless he makes noises!.'' She then turned to our Doctor. ''Chopper! Can you do something about this?''

I also looked at Chopper and it seemes that he lost consciousness from the heat. ''I don't think he can help right now.'' Zoro said as he tugged the leash on the sleight and tried to get the Doctors attention in vain.

''I'll beat the crap out of you!'' I sweatdropped at Luffy still shouting absurds all around the desert, but it was amusing, if nothing else.

''No other choice then.'' Nami sighed. ''Zoro, take care of him.''

''Why do i have to!''

''You want me to start talking about the debt you owe me again?'' Nami reminded him and i saw that Zoro was gritting his teeths in anger.

''How can you stand that woman?'' Zoro said and looked at me as i threw a canteen of cooled water for him.

''Karma. Endure for a while and you'll get the front row seat seeing her descending to Hell.''

''I'll look forward to it. If she doesn't fall down to Hell, i'll push her down there!'' Zoro grumbled and dragged Chopper with him to get the possibly lost Captain.

Nami laughed at that and waved her hand in a dismissing manner at Zoro. ''The pleasures all mine Now, let's go on ahead.''

''Oh? S-shouldn't we wait for them?'' Vivi asked in another frenzie of worry.

''They should be fine if they follow our footprints.'' Sanji muttered with his cigarette in his mouth.

''With their stamina, they'll catch up soon anyway. We'll wait for them someplace where we can rest.'' Nami told us and i heard Usopp agreeing to that.

But that still didn't diminish Vivis worry and i shrugged the whole thing off. Saying that they can take care of themselves and if worse comes to worse, i'll handle it. There was a moment of silence around us with me distributing water for the girls and guys.

Walking for about 30 minutes, we found a small city of ruins on top of a decent sized dune. I looked around and tried to imagine what it used to look like in its prime.

''Wow, i'm beat!'' I heard Usopp shout in relief and threw himself to the shades. Ignoring what Nami and Sanji were babbling about, i jumped on a boulder and stared at the horizon before us. Stretching my arms a bit until i heard the satisfying popping noises again, indicating that my joints were infact stiffed and i need to stretch more once i have time.

_''I really need a bed.''_ I thought to myself and sat down. _''Let's see... i still have some juice left on my Iphone, so i'll be entertained 'till the three lost guys find us.''_ Putting my headphones on, i began to set my music in 'shuffle' and relax with my eyes closed.

I don't know how long i was spacing out, but the sudden shook on my shoulder woke me up. Opening my eyes, i was greeted by the sight of orange. Blinking once, twice, there was Nami patting my cheek to get my attention.

''Ezek-kun, wake up. Were leaving.''

''What? So soon?'' I asked and saw that Vivi already mounted the camel. ''Anything new about Luffy and the others?''

Nami shook her head in negative. ''No, but we should get moving. Maybe we'll see them on the way.''

I nodded at that. Given Zoro's tendencies to wander around, we'll have better chance to find them while moving. Looking at my Iphone for a second, i saw that it didn't have much left so i turned it off and decided to charge it up once we find another resting place. ''_Hopefully one with a bed.''_

Walking up to Eyelashes and patting its head. He gave me a grin and leaned closer to my hand. I raised my eyebrow at that since i thought that he only lets the girls do that to him. Taking the camels leash i began to lead our treck towards Yuba. Thankfully Vivi redirected my course before we would've gottem lost.

I eventually got bored and looked around for people to converse with since Ace wasn't here with us anymore. The guy was a good companion to talk with. He also seemed to hate small talks.

_''Usopp's lagging behind, Sanji probably hates my guts, Nami's still giving me the creeps and Vivi's still worried. So that leaves me the damn camel.''_ I sighed and gently tugged the leash to get the camels attention. ''Need something to drink?''

He looked at me for a second and let out that grumbling voice that camels usually make. Kinda reminded me of those zoo animals back home. I was still trying to figure out just _how_ can i understand animals, but dismissed it as i got my answer from Eyelashes.

''I guess your right. You camels can hold your own... unlike the guy behind us.'' We both looked at Usopp and chuckled at his exhausted expression. ''I almost pity him, almost.''

Eyelashes let out a short camelish laughter of his and mumbled something more. It sounded pretty ass funny to mee. Didn't know that camels can make that much noises without missing a beat.

''I'm not his babysitter, he can haul his ass over his own shoulder to carry himself.'' I told the camel, quickly thinking that this would've looked pretty odd back home. Its weird even here now that i though of it for a moment. Eyelashes let out another mumble and i took a thinking pose with my free hand. ''What animal would i be, if i had the choice to choose?'' I thought about that for a second and grinned. ''I think a panda would fit me perfectly.''

I laughed with the camel. It just sounded hilarious and plainly weird laughing with him. Eyelashes said something more and i chuckled at it.

''Why you say? The answer would be that its black and white, giving an aura of equality.'' I chuckled once more. ''And the dark rings on its eye too. It kinda fits me since i don't sleep very often.''

''Your forgetting something else.'' I heard Nami state and looked up seeing the mischievious grin of the navigators face.

''That would be?'' I raised my eyebrow.

She giggled a bit. ''Their also cute.''

I rubbed my head in slight embarrasement. ''Didn't think of that through huh?'' I muttered and looked away from her. There was more of that giggling noice of hers and i rolled my eyes. Stopping for a moment for Usopp to catch up to us. Nami still tried to reassure Vivi that she doesn't have to worry so much about our lost companions. After that i tuned out their conversation which consisted of something girly.

I stopped and looked at east from us. There was a sudden yelling and that yelling came from Luffy waving and shouting at us. Behind him were Chopper and a panting Zoro. I idly wondered how did they get those bruises, when i remembred that Luffy did something extremely reckless.

''Guys! We found you!'' Luffy cheered and made a mad dash towards us. Well at me to be precise, because he couldn't stop the momentum he gathered from the dune he descended. The rubberman crashed into me like a cannonball. I felt the air leave my lungs and we both hit the sand. Hard. Luffy stood up and rubbed his head while laughing at me. ''Hehehehehe... sorry Ezekiel.''

I groaned and also stood up while glaring daggers at Luffy. Cracking my knuckles at him, i bashed his head on the sand and knotted his rubber limbs together. Patting myself to get rid of the sand off my robes. I walked back to the sweatdropped pirates while ignoring Luffys protests.

''I think i broke something.'' I said and held my ribs, acting as if i didn't just knot Luffy into a rubberball.

Zoro palmed his face. ''Why didn't i think of that earlier? Would've save us a whole lot of trouble.''

''C'mon! I said i was sorry!''

I ignored Luffy pleading again and took Eyelashes leash and walked away from the distance. ''Shouldn't we help him?'' I heard Vivi ask us.

''Nah, he deserves it.'' Nami assured her with a shrugg and i heard Chopper gulp in fear behind Zoros leg.

''Ezekiel! Guuuys!'' Luffy shouted and somehow caught up to us by bouncing. It looked pretty damn funny and i got an idea out of it.

''Luffy, stay still for a second.'' I told him and ran away, taking a good distance between me and Luffys confused stare.

''What's that idiot doing this time?'' I heard Sanji mumbled.

Taking a steady running stance and glaring at Luffy with my Sharingans. I then made a run for it towards the prone ball-shaped form of my Captain. Seeing his widened eyes as i pulled my right leg back, i saw that he was trying to get away from my collision course.

*Bam!*

My right leg connected to Luffys body, the force i put was enough to send him over a dune with him screaming. I took my robe and shirt off where i waved the latter clothing while running around the desert.

''And Vane did it! He really did it!'' I boasted and tried to imitate Andy Gray's the football/soccer commentators voice, horribly. ''Unstoppable! Unbelievable, at the last three minutes he just runs in and slots it!'' The whole celebration was finished with a powerslide in front of the pirate crew and me praying towards the skies.

''...The hell...'' Zoro said in slight disturbed voice at my behaviour. Chopper and Usopp were gripping on Zoros leg in fear of being my next targets. The rest were giving me odd glances here and there with a everyone having their own thoughts.

I ignored them once more and sent kisses towards my imagined audience in the large soccer stadium. One thing about me is that i love the sport and always use exaggerated victory dance/pose. Just for the sake of infuriating my opponents. I remember that one time it cost me a red card since the referee was a old humourless old fart.

I put my shirt and robe back on with a grin. ''I think i invented a new sport.'' I said and tightened my sash on my waist.

''Hellooo~! Anyone? Help me!'' Luffy from a good distance away until Sanji took pity at him and freed him from himself. He then walked towards me and waved his arms around. ''Whatdya do that for! That wasn't funny at all!''

''It was funny to me.''

Luffy was silent for a moment until a grin plastered on his face. ''Thanks, i think you helped me invent a new move.''

I raised my from at that. ''You? Idea? Now?'' I looked at the now setting sun with the sun gazing at us mockingly. ''I don't see a sign of apocalypse so it must be true, dang.''

''Are you saying that i'm lying!''

''I didn't say you were lying!''

Our bickering got a stop by Nami bashing our heads together as she and Vivi got off the camel and wanted to stretch their legs. Glaring at the navigator who glared back at me, i looked away from her lest she'll do something. As me and Luffy stood up from the sand dusting ourselves while secretly glaring at Namis back.

''Everyone, once we pass that large rock, we'll almost be at Yuba.'' Vivi declared. ''Ket's keep going just a little more.

Me, Luffy and Chopper threw our hands in the air. ''Wohoo!''

''Yuba! Here i come!'' Luffy jumped around.

''Zoro, carry me.'' Usopp panted in exhaustion.

''Carry yourself you wuss.'' Sanji added to Usopp who groaned at the insult. I chuckled and ran my fingers through my hair.

''Carry me too, Zoro!'' Chopper shouted this time and i looked at the reindeer in surprise.

''Whaaaat! Your cheating me with Zoro!'' I feigned mock hurt at Chopper who looked at me in puzzlement. ''I'm devastated. If i ever commit suicide because of this, your not invited to my funeral.'' I looked away from him and crossed my arms with a huff.

''Hey! That's now what i meant! I thought you were tired and needed to rest!''

''Save your excuses. I thought you loved me.'' I managed to squeeze a few tears from my eyes. ''I though we had something.''

''Your really weird.'' Nami deadpanned at me, which made me grin at her and forget my bickering with Chopper.

''And thats why you love me, admit it.''

She blushed and was about to bash my head with her fist. Swiftly dodging it, i showed her my tongue. ''I do not!''

''Denying won't help you here~.'' I sang which infuriated her even more and began to chase me this time. ''Maa~, Maa~, that temper of yours is unlady like. Tsk, tsk'' I wagged my fingers at her like i used to with my cousins when they did something inappropriate. I knew that i was walking on thin ice here, but if anything, its definetely worth the effort.

''Stay still!''

''If you insist then-.'' She managed to cut me off before i could say more.

''I insist!'' Stopping, she smashed her fist on my head and i landed face first on the ground with a bumb on my head. ''Jeez, you really enjoy getting under peoples skin.''

I stood up chuckling and rubbed my head to ease the uncomfortable pain. ''Let's just say that i take a certain _satisfaction_ out of it.'' She looked at me weirdly until that perverted mind of hers got to her and stormed away from me witha a beet red face. ''See? You don't understand me and i don't understand you. I have my needs too!'' Shouting at her retreating back toward me, i walked towards the guys with some laughing and some glaring.

''That's not how you treat a lady, savage.'' Sanji told me in disgust.

I smiled at the insult. Its not like its the worst name i've been given to. ''She seemed to like it.''

''I did not!'' Nami shouted a bit further away from me.

''See? She lives in denial.'' I nodded and heard Nami growl at me. I'm really gonna have my fun and if that means annoying the hell out of her, then so be it. ''Besides, Nojiko-san said that you always deny everything you like and put up that macho girl attitude of yours.'' I saw that Nami was too flustered to say anything and laughed as she looked away from me with the blush stil present on her face.

''Nojiko-san?'' Vivi questioned me.

''Nami-chan's elder sister. That woman's such a tease when she's drunk, or sober.'' That earned me a kick to the head by Sanji.

''Don't talk about Nami-san's sister like that!''

I rubbed my head while glaring at Sanji. ''Its true. She tried to seduce me and i was close getting a restraining order for myself if that would've continued. I felt violated! I'm the victim here!'' I shouted until i thought about it a bit more. ''Not that i would've mind that... she IS pretty hot.''

I got another damage to my head by Nami who still had the blush on her face. ''Stop being a pain in the ass.''

Rubbing my head once more, i gave her a glare. ''I'm sure you'd like that huh?'' Another fist to the head and i was lying on the sand face first while listening to the laughter of everyone except Nami and Sanji.

''God, Luffy. Why did you even let him join in the first place?'' Nami groaned in obvious frustation about me while the Captain of the Straw Hat's laughed. I got up from my position and walked behind the pirates with a smile on my face.

''Many reasons: Magic, mystery eyes and dark skin.'' Luffy said plainly and i couldn't help but let out a genuine smile.

I heard Nami sigh at that. ''I should've known that you were that easy to impress.''

Shrugging at that, i felt that the wind was getting stronger by the second and pulled my hood over my head. Then out of nowhere, the wind picked up even more and i could see something behind the wall of sand that suddenly formed in front of it.

''Something's not right here!'' Vivi yelled and i activated my Sharingans to see what she meant about that. The sight i saw, it was kinda disturbing to see as the whole place that was supposed to be a city was a infact big massive ruin. I was thinking that should i tell them now or let them see it for themselves. Deciding that we should proceed as the story is meant to beand walked forward

''I think i got sand under my pants.'' I grumble at the sandstorm as we got close enough to Yuba.

''Yuba is besieged by a sandstorm!'' Vivi yelled the obvious and ran through the storm in panic. Not wasting any second, we all followed the reckless Princess through the wall of windy sand. On our way, the storm died down and we were greeted by the sight of even more ruin than i first saw. Died plants, crumbled buildings and a crap load of sand burying the oasis. The whole place was a mess.

''This is pretty bad...'' Zoro mused behind me as we looked at the piles of sands. ''This place isn't any better off than Erumalu.''

''I hope they got the people out of here before this happened.'' I said and shook my head.

''Where's the water?'' Luffy panted with his tounge out and tried to spot something worth drinking.

''Isn't this supposed to be an oasis, Vivi-chan?'' Our cook questioned the shocked Vivi.

''The sand has raised the ground level...'' Vivi trailed off, too shocked to continue her speech.

''...so the oasis has been swallowed.'' I continued and we heard noises coming a bit further away. As we walked over there, we saw a old man shoveling sand like a possessed farmer.

''You're passing travelers, right?'' The old man said and continued shoveling. ''You must be tired from your trip across the desert. I'm sorry. It seems this town's a little dried up at the moment. But i hope you can at least get some rest before you go.'' I saw that Vivi covered her lower part of her face when the old man looked at our direction. ''If you're looking for inns, there's plenty to choose from. After all, that's what we're known for here.''

''Excuse me. We heard the Rebel Army has been using this town as a base'' Vivi said as i began to study him. The old man's eyes changed then to one of rage solely at us.

''What business do you have with the Rebel Army!'' He then began to throw barrels, buckets and sand at us while yelling profanities. ''Don't you dare tell me you're actually thinking of joining them!''

He gave up throwing the objects at us, but the glare still remained on his wrinkled face. ''So, you've seen them?'' I asked this time as the old man took a deep calming breath.

''Those _fools_ have left already.''

''WHAT'D YOU SAY!'' Luffy shouted in outrage and we all were shocked to hear that.

''That can't be!'' Vivi found her voice again.

''We walked through the desert for nothing!'' I yelled and palmed my face. _''I'm one to talk. I should've know about this too.''_

The old man ignored our shouts and resumed his task of shoveling. ''You saw the sandstorm that just blew through, right? Its' not the first. This three year-long drought has caused the sands to dry up. And sandstorms have been continually ravaging this town. Swallowed bit by bit, the great oasis of the past is now in the state you see here. Without the commerce of the city to support it, the Rebel Army's protracted war could not continue. They relocated themselves to Katorea.''

''Auch.'' I winced at the information and heard Vivi gasp.

''Katorea!''

''Where's that, Vivi? Is Katorea nearby?'' Luffy asked.

''It's the oasis right next to Nanohana.'' Vivi clarified him.

''Katorea! That's the town where i got lost and met with Eyelashes!'' Chopper told us and translated what the mentioned camel was mumbling about. ''Eyelashes says he was delivering supplies to the rebels in Katorea.''

It didn't take much long for Luffy, Sanji and Usopp to beat the camel to the ground for the late information. I wisely kept my mouth shut as to not reveal something and looked around.

''So we came all the way here for nothing?'' Zoro grumbled and i looked back to see the old man walking towards us, only to lose his balance and fall on the sand. I ran towards him and helped him stand up from his position.

''Vivi...'' The old man looked at the Princess with wide-eyes as we made our way to the camel beating pirates. ''You just called her 'Vivi'.''

''Good job, Luffy.'' I glared at him as the old man still clung to me for balance.

''OI, OSSAN! VIVI'S NOT A PRINCESS OR ANYTHING-!'' Luffy tried to correct his mistake, but a fist to the head by Zoro shut him up.

''Are you Vivi-chan?'' The old man asked. ''Is it you?'' He now let got of me and put a hand on Vivi's shoulder. ''You're still alive. I'm so glad! It's me. Don't you recognize me?'' We all were as confused as Vivi by the old mans sudden behavious. ''I can understand, i've lost some weight.''

''Toto-ojisan... (Uncle Toto).'' Vivi said in disbelief and covered her mouth with her hand.

''Yes, that's right.'' The now identified Toto said.

''Listen to me, Vivi-chan. I believe in the King. He is by no means-.'' Toto began, but got interrupted by a music that weirdly, came from my pouch. Blushing in embarrasement, i took it out and looked at the Iphone as i recalled that i set it in 'silent-mode'.

''Forgive me, i'll be over there.'' I said and took a good distance from the mushy scene. ''The hell... since when can people call me?'' What was weird about my Iphone was that SOMEONE was CALLING me. HERE of all places AND in the middle of a goddamn desert! ''Should i answer it?'' I asked myself. I didn't know who it was... just an anonymous call with no name on it.

''Whatcha doing?'' A voice said behind and i jumped 10 feet high in fright. Looking behind me, there was Nami with a confused face staring at me. I looked back at my Iphone and saw that the battery finally died down from the incoming call. I lost my chance to answer it and began to glare at Nami.

''Don't sneak up on me like that!''

She arched one eyebrow of hers, confusion writted on her pretty visage. ''We were yelling at you for quite some time and i didn't sneak up on you!''

I narrowed my eyes a bit and looked at my Iphone. Sighing, i placed it back in my pouch and walked back to the pirates with Nami next to me.

''Everything's alright?'' Zoro said and turned towards me.

''It was nothing.'' I grinned and waved my hands in front of me. ''Thought i saw something.'' He shrugged and i mentally sighed. Glaring one more time at Nami for sneaking up on me, i also schooled myself for letting someone, anyone, get behind me unnoticed.

[Moments later]

Toto was kind enough to give us a decent sized room with beds and pillows after his reunion with Vivi. I really hoped that i'll get some sleep tonight. Its a rare occasion now that we have beds.

''Okay, gentlemen!'' Usopp announced and i saw that he feels much better than few hours ago once the bed was insight. ''We've had a rough day! Let's take a little rest to replenish our strenght for tommorow.'' He threw himself on one of the beds and wished us all a good night. Zoro seemed to get angry at that and threw a pillow at the sharpshooter.

''You've been sleeping the whole time!''

''Asshole! Don't compare me to the rest of you monsters!'' Usopp shouted back at Zoro and threw a pillow at his face. I shrugged and moved my head to the side to let a pillow fly past me.

''That is IT!'' Zoro grumbled and i felt small Killing Intent around him. That didn't stop Usopp from throwing another pillow. This time at Chopper.

''And besides, today's prize for slacking should go to you, Blue-nose!''

''But i can't stand the heat!'' Usopp and Chopper argued and i could only snigger at the scene. I took a pillow myself and looked around for my possible victim.

''Sanji-san, that's my...'' I heard Vivi say and turned around to see the love cook slouching on Vivi's bed. I scowled at him since Igaram entrusted her well-being to me and what he's doing is just... wrong.

''Yes, i thought you'd be lonely sleeping by yourself tonight-.'' Sanji said but i managed to interrupt his short speech with a pillow to his snout.

''Beat it, pedophile. The kid needs her sleep to grow up.'' I glared at Sanji.

''Ezekiel-San! I'm not a kid!

Vivi's protest went to deaf ears as me and Sanji glared at each other. ''Oh, someone's got guts, eh?''

''Damn right limp dick!'' I shouted and threw another pillow at his face. That started the mock combat around us as pillows flew everywhere.

''Don't you guys know the meaning of 'sleep'-?'' Nami shouted at us and i shut her up with a well placed pillow to her face.

''Quit yapping and get over here!'' I shouted back at her and got a pillow smack from Usopp.

''Hahaa! I got red eyes!'' He boasted and laughed at me.

''Oh you are sooo dead!'' I returned the pillow at Usopp, but got another pillow slammed to my face by a furious Nami glaring at me. I saw that Vivi was also pillowed and laughed at her face. That distraction was a mistake on my part as Sanji got the best of me.

''It seems like i have to teach you some manners about respecting ladies.'' Sanji sneered.

I scoffed and was take aback by them everyone minus Luffy who mysteriously disappeared, were joining against me. ''What did i do to deserve this?'' I asked the pillow armed pirates.

''Your a dick.'' Sanji said.

''You didn't cool me down enough! I could've died!'' Chopper shouted.

''You didn't cool me at all! I WAS about to die!'' Usopp shouted.

''I'm just bored.'' Zoro shrugged.

''Someone has to teach you a thing or two about NOT messing with me!'' Nami shouted and i looked at Vivi with a pleading look that she ignored.

''You've been calling me a kid since Whiskey Peak!''

I narrowed my eyes at them. ''So everyone wants a piece of me? Is that it?'' They all nodded and i couldn't help but sigh. ''Very well...'' I made a cross shaped hand seal and got about 5 clones next to me, all grinning and armed with pillows. Turning around, i nodded at my advantage. ''Cool, i don't have to call out the Jutsu to summon you guys.''

One of the clones deadpanned at me. ''That's because your using this Jutsu waaaay too much. Kinda like the main character.''

''Hey! That's not fair!'' I heard Chopper shout behind me with the others.

''And 6 versus 1 is?''

''B-but still! This is madness! You can't-!'' Usopp blanched out, but the sudden increase of Killing Intent shut him and everyone started to tense. Even my clones stopped and glared at my nakamas.

I slowly turned my head and looked at them. I mean _really_ looked at them with the most malicious glare i gave till now. ''Madness...?'' Glaring at them intently i raised my pillow over my head. ''THIS IS SPARTA!'' That shut them up for a moment as the clones ran at the scared pirates. ''Hahahaaa! Give them nothing! But take everything from them! Soak your pillows with their blood!''

It was funny beating them up with pillows for the longest time until my clones popped out and people started to 'avenge' themselves about my behaviour on them lately. I had my fun with them and i'll make sure to have more of it. They eventually got tired and went to sleep with me tugging Chopper who fell asleep on the floor from exhaustion.

I looked around the room and couldn't spot Luffy anywhere and went outside to see if the guy 'accidentally' lost himself. Chuckling to myself at the problem he could cause to me tonigh. My search for Luffy continued for about 20 minutes until i heard sound neardby and went there. I saw the old man who was still shoveling the hole he made. Looking around, i still couldn't spot Luffy.

''Oi! Toto-ojisama! Have you seen Luffy anywhere?'' Toto looked at me for a moment and shook his head. ''You know; straw hat, stupid grin, dumb as a bucket of shrimp.''

Toto thought it for a second and nodded at me. ''Hai, he's um...'' He looked around the place until we both saw a hole behind the old man. ''Huh?''

''What is it?'' I asked and went to see the hole. ''Well i'll be damned.'' I shook my head and smiled down at Luffy sleeping at the deep hole he dug.

''How did he dig that far so quickly?''

I shrugged at him and went to retrieve Luffy from the hole. ''Its something he does.'' I said and hoisted Luffy over my shoulder. The guy was pretty light weighted for someone who eats a lot of meat. I walked back to the room the others were sleeping with the old man who said that he wanted to rest a bit from his chore today. Setting the dirtied rubberman on the free bed at the corner. I took his straw hat off and tugged him under the bed sheets. Setting the straw hat on his stomach, Luffy took it and clung to it while sleep talking about Crocodile and beatings.

Walking outside to get some fresh air. I saw the old man was sitting on a nearby bench eating Onigiri's (Rice balls). He looked at me and motioned the free seat next to him. He was also kind enough to offer me one of his snacks after hearing my stomach grumble.

''How's Vivi-chan nowadays? I haven't seen her in ages.'' Toto asked me when as i finished my Onigiri.

''She's a nice, kind-hearted girl. Worries too much about everything in general, but she means well. Despite the fact that she has her own Kingdom to worry about.''

''She hasn't changed at all.'' Toto chuckled. ''Don't worry about it too much. She's always been like that. The kid appeared much older than her peers back in the old days.''

I smiled a bit. ''I think i can relate to her with that.''

We were both silent when the old man stood up. ''I'll go to sleep now. I suggest you do the same.''

I shrugged again and felt my should being tense as hell. ''That would be welcomed, thanks.''

''Anytime.'' He turned around and walked away to his own house near ours.

As he closed his door behind him, i went back to our room to try sleep now. Perhaps the comfy bed will help me with that. Looking at my bed next to Sanji's, i groaned at the sight of it. Palming my face in irritation about Nami conquiring my bed now of all times. I resisted the urge to just throw her out of MY bed, but knew better that to do that.

''One time i get a decent bed, there's someone slouching on it. This is like the camping all over again, jeez.'' I shook my head and went upper level of the room to see if there was another available bed. The funny thing about the room was that its a two-storey room with the upper one reserved for the girls. ''There isn't even a door. So much for privacy.'' I mumbled.

There was a bed alright, but the problem was that it was a king-sized bed with Vivi sprawled in middle. There was no way i'll sleep in there. I would never hear the end of it and if Daxter ever finds out, i won't hear the end of it. Sighing, i set the bed sheet over the lightly snooring Princess and went down floor.

''I guess i have no choice BUT to do it.'' I leaned closer to MY supposed bed and glared at Nami. ''I hope your happy.''

Thankfully Nami didn't take too much space of the bed and there was just enough for me to inch along. Closing my eyes, i tried to ignore everything that happened today. Including that someone called me.

**[To Be Continued]**

It was fun while it lasted. There will be another short flashback and maybe more. I know there's a lot of grammar mistakes present here, so forgive me about those. I usually write these stories after work or school. Sometimes earlier or not at all and i'm waaay to tired to correct.

Anyways, the people have spoken! Which means i'll write another story about One Piece movie. What movie you say? Well that's something for me to know and you to write good reviews to boost my massive ego of the roof.

There will be more of the mysterious caller in the next few chapters. And perhaps more.

Over and out!


	33. To The City of Dreams and Chaos

**Chapter 33: To The City of Dreams... and Chaos.**

**C'mon guys! Were close to 100 reviews!**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Flashback, 10 years ago, Ezekiel's POV]

_''The hell is that weird girl doing?''_ I thought to myself as she walked next to me. People don't usually act so naturally in my present, but why does she? Is she trying to trick me? Deceive me?

''Something you want to talk about cutie?'' Susan asked and i realised that i was staring at her for quite some time now. Blushing, i walked faster away from the red-head, only to hear her giggle and catch up to me. ''About the teacher,'' She said and i looked at her again. ''i could talk to the Master and do something about it.''

I raised my eyebrow at her. Something i saw her do and thought it was kinda cool to imitate. ''The old goat?''

*Bam!*

''Don't call Master old!''

I grumbled as a bumb appeared on my head. ''Its true, the old timer walks with a cane. Anyone who walks with a cane is old in my book.''

Suzan grinned at me. ''What if i told you that its not just a average cane, but a weapon?''

My eyes widened at that. ''The old man's armed!''

She winked at me, which made me blush and look away from her again. ''Yes, but don't tell anyone.'' She suspiciously looked around us as if to spot a eavesdropper among us and whispered to my ear. ''Its a Shikomizue.''

''A Shiko-what?'' I asked confused and heard her giggle. Something i felt i'll hear a lot.

''A prepared cane. Its a sword concealed inside a cane or a walking stick.''

''Master's dangerous.'' I grinned. ''I only saw the Master once or twice these past 2 years. He looked cool.''

''Really?'' She asked me with a smile. ''How about we go see him next time you visit the dojo?''

''Hai! That would be kick ass!'' I shouted. Clenching and unclenching my right fist in excitement.

[End Flashback, Yuba Motel, Ezekiel's POV]

I felt my eyes twitch and slowly opened them to be greeted by a sight of orange smudge in my vision. Closing my eyes again, i opened them to see the smudge was still there. At first i thougt it was Daxter sleeping on top of my chest as it was his favorite spot. It didn't register to me until much later that it was Namis head sleeping on my chest.

_''Shit! If she wakes up, all hell will break loose!''_

I looked at the window and saw it was already morning. Meaning that the guys will wake up anytime soon and see this mushy scene here.

Having no choice, i gently shook the navigators shoulder to wake her up. My first attempt didn't work and i had to try a bit harder. That plan backfired on me as she still refused to wake up and snuggled closer to my face. Not that i mind her doing this, but i _really_ wanted to get up and leave the ghostly oasis or before someone uses this to blackmail me.

Roughly shaking up her this time. I felt her stir and use my body as a support to look around the room. She was confused as she gazed around and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. It looked cute to me 'till her eyes landed on me. Her expression change into one of horror and was about to scream or squeel. Whatever comes first. I palmed her mouth shut and now that i had enough room to move. I swiftly hoisted her over my should, i ran outside without making too much noise along the way to wake the guys.

Setting Nami down, i wiping the sweat from my forehead slight exhaustion. I was woken up again by a fist kissing my mouth. I held my now busted lip and glared at the aggressive woman.

''What the hell was that for woman!''

If it was possible. Her glare intensified even more till she was beet red like yesterday. ''What were you doing in my bed!''

''Yours? That was my bed you were sleeping on!'' I sucked my busted lower lip inside my mouth and spat a glob of blood out. _''At least it wasn't my teeth.''_ ''Your really need a shrink or anger management your crazed...'' I would've continued if i hadn't seen the hurt face on her. _''It wasn't that bad, was it?''_

We were both silent for good 10 minutes, which ended with me turning away from her and went to see a woken up Eyelashes. Probably got up from our shouting and was looking at me in puzzlement. ''Woke you up huh?'' He nodded as i patted his head. ''Sorry bud. I'll make it up for you, kay?'' I got another nod with a grin which i happily returned and packed the camel with our supplies.

Walking a bit more with Eyelashes to get some exercise. I looked around and couldn't spot Nami anywhere. I assumed that she went inside to dress up and do those what girls do in the morning after a argument. Shrugging, again, i looked up and felt my neck pop from the slow movement. The camel laughed at my pained expression and gave it annoyed look that shut him up.

''You already awake?'' I heard a voice call out and saw that it was Sanji lighting a smoke.

''I had my total of 9 hours now, so i'm cool.'' I answered him with a light yawn. My sleep usually needs that much until next time i exhaust my body.

We were both silent with until Sanji flickered his cigarette and stomped on it. ''You're really immature, you know that.''

I smiled. ''Its part of my charming personality. I'm sure you understand.''

''I do not.''

I pouted at what he said. ''Joykill.'' I grumbled and felt the camel nudge my at shoulder. He then mumbled something that made me snigger and the camel chuckle. ''Thanks, i needed that.''

''What did he say?'' A curious Sanji asked us.

''Oh its nothing...'' I laughed with the camel. ''...he does look like a goat.'' I whispered to the camel with a grin.

Sanji narrowed his one visible eye at me. ''I still can't believe you can understand animals.''

I chuckled at that. ''Me neither. Call it a blessing... or a curse. Which ever sound cool.''

''I think i'll go with the latter.''

''Fine by me!'' I said and waited for the rest of the guys to assemble as i began to recharge my Iphone. Hopefully the mysterious caller calls back so i can get answers. _''I feel like someones toying with me.''_

''I'm sorry, Vivi-chan.'' I heard Toto conversing with Vivi and made my way towards them. ''You shouldn't have had to see something like this.''

''No, not at all, its no problem, really.'' Vivi tried to assure the old man.

''We'll be going now, Ojisan.'' Luffy said as the old man looked at the Captain with a smile.

''Ah, Luffy-kun. Please take this with you.'' Toto said and handed Luffy a small wooden barrel with string and straw attached to it.

''Wow! Water!'' Luffy grinned and looked at the bottle in awe. ''It came out?''

''Right after you fell asleep from digging last night.'' Toto smiled. ''We made it to the water level. I managed to squeeze out some water and distill it.''

''That sounded kinda complicated, but thank you!'' Luffy said and repeatedly bowed.

''Genuine Yuba water. Sorry, but that's all i can give you.''

''I'll drink it carefully!''

''I'm sure you will.'' I said and took a closer look at the barrel.

''Oh, i have something for you too.'' Toto said and i arched my eyebrow questioningly. He took out something from his robe and presented it to me. ''I also found this one from the hole Luffy-kun dug.'' My eyes widened when he took out one of the Globes out. This one was colored in metallic-blue with no weird scribbles on it. ''I don't know what this is, so i thought you'd like to take it as a trinket.''

''Awesome~! A Static-Globe!'' I grinned and remembered what the old man from the Wastelanders said about these. I carefully took it with my RIGHT hand and studied it. ''I thought these were rather rare in the deserts.''

''You know about these?'' Toto asked me as i sealed the Globe in my supply-scroll without him seeing it.

''Hardly, but they are welcomed as i'd like to study these in my freetime.'' I respectfully bowed to him. ''Thank you for the gift, Toto-ojisama. I deeply appreciate your generosity.''

''There's no need to be so formal my boy.''

I smiled at him. ''Believe me, i'm trying.'' Toto chuckled at that as he waved us good byes and lucks all around.

''What happened to your lip?'' Chopper asked in his reindeer-mode. I saw Nami tense at that as i turned at the Doctor.

''Crashed into a nearby wall. I'm kinda clumsy when i wake up.'' I rubbed my head in embarrasement and saw Nami sigh in relief. _''If she thinks i forgive her about the punch, then she's mistaken.''_

[Rainbase, General POV]

After the Officer Agents gathered together at their secret underground meeting base in Rainbase. They were told about Crocodiles final plans of creating the Utopia, gaining his own military power and other horseshit. As the Agents got their last orders, Mr. 3 barged in requesting that the plan be delayed. Hissudden arrival caused a massive ruckus in the base, ending with him telling his failure about not killing the Princess and her entourage to the main Boss, Crocodile.

Mr. 3 told his Boss that he _allowed_ the Straw Hat Pirates and the Princess to escape. That got the Boss angry as he recalled his phone call with Sanji and the cooks disrespect towards him.

''Anyway. You at least managed to kill one or two of them, right?'' Crocodile asked.

''W-well, you see...'' Mr. 3 stammered, but Crocodile's glare got him to straighten up. ''There was a mistake in the information! There were actually five pirates with her! A nose... there was one with a looong nose and another with scary red eyes.''

''YOU PIECE OF...!'' Crocodile shouted at him, but got interrupted by the okama Mr. 2.

''Zero-chan! Will you please explain what he's talking about? I don't understand it at all!'' Mr. 2 squeled and was shown the pictures of the Straw Hat Pirates that the deceased unluckies drawed. ''I met these guys! On my way here, i met these guys!''

''What?'' Crocodile questioned.

Mr. 2 tapped his right cheek with his right hand and showed Luffy's, Zoro's, Nami's, Usopp's and Chopper's faces. ''There was another guy with them that seemed to avoid me.'' Here he looked dejected. ''He was cute.''

''Another guy?'' Miss Allsunday asked in curiousity. Mr. 2 held the drawn picture of Ezekiel's impassive face. ''Oh, its him.'' She chuckled. _''This should be intresting.''_

''And moreover...'' Mr. 2 yelled and pointed at the picture of Vivi. ''SHE was Miss Wednesday, AND Princess Vivi! And you're telling me these guys are my enemies!''

''Yes, they know my identity.'' Crocodile said with a malicious aura surrounding him. ''If they aren't taken care of, they'll interfere with my plan.''

''Ignoring their pets (Chopper, Daxter & Carue) Vivi is traveling in a group of five. We can assume they've arrived in Arabasta by now.'' Crocodile surmised. ''Mr. 2, take some photos using that memory of yours. Also, try to find anything about the other guy.''

''B-but Boss!'' Mr. 3 stuttered. ''I will finish off Vivi and that pirate crew without fail if you give me-!''

''SILENCE, YOU USELESS LITTLE SHIT!'' Crocodile shouted and grabbed Mr. 3 by the neck, hoisting him up. He then began to ridicule the officer agent and dried the moisture out of him with his Devil Fruit-ability. After that, Crocodile pushed a button where a trapdoor emerged and threw the dried up Agent there. ''It's feeding time.''

The other Agents paled at the ruthless action of their Boss and wisely kept their mouth shut. Lest they'll be the one to accompany Mr. 3 down floor.

''Listen up, boneheads!'' Crocodile shouted and got his Agents attention. ''Burn these five faces into your brains. The pet of the crew won't be much of a trouble.'' He glared at his agents as he held the picture of the 4 pirates that Mr. 2 managed to copy. ''Their aim is to halt the Rebel Army. If we don't pursue them, they will show up on their own.'' Saying that, he pushed a button on his chair that let out a short beeping sound. ''Miss Allsunday, what can you tell about this, other unknown pirate?''

''Ezekiel Vane, hmm...'' She said as the 'unknown' pirate came to her mind. ''He lives up to his title: The Dark Magician.'' Crocodile arched his eyebrow at the weird answer. Seeing her Boss'es confused glance, she clarified him. ''A enigma. Not much is know about him.'' She didn't want to tell everything about him, not before getting some answers herself.

''Still. Even if their all with the Princess. Can the Rebel Army be stopped at this stage?'' Mr. 2 questioned after a moment of silence.

''It's quite troublesome. The Rebel Army's leader, Kohza and Princess Nefertari Vivi were childhood friends, thats according to our sources.'' Crocodile said and slammed his golden left hand with the hood attached to it into Vivi's picture. ''It's a _wave_ of 700,000 people. Even if she can't stop them, she can certainly cause them to hesitate.'' He then told the present agents about him installing several of his Billions member into the Rebel army and ordered them not to let the Princess get to contact with them. ''Miss Allsunday.'' Crocodile said and got the mentioned Agents attention which she replied with a quick:

''Sir.''

''Considering the circumstances, you are authorized to use the Den Den Mushi should the need arise. Notify the Billions stationed in Nanohana to eliminate these 4 on sight.''

Surpised, she asked: ''What about the last member?''

''I'll have someone else take care of him.''

''Yes, right away.'' Miss Allsunday said and turned to leave.

Crocodile looked at his remaining agents lounging around. ''Now leave, all of you. You'll be late for the party.'' He dismissed them and lighted his expensive looking cigar. ''I trust there will be no further trouble.''

''Hai!''

[Arabasta Desert, Near Yuba, Ezekiel's POV]

''...I shit you not! Turtles _can_ breath through their butts! Its even proved theory!'' I told Luffy, Usopp and Chopper.

''Really! I want a turtle!'' Luffy shouted with the latter not believing much about my fact.

''I feel you man. If i wanted a turtle, i'd get myself a _giant_ Seaturtle, tame it and learn how to ride it. Once i can ride the Seaturtle, that opens up some options.'' I said, feeling the crews attention to me. Mostly because their bored and had nothing better to do than to listen to our pointless conversations. ''Then, i can come up to some cruise ships undetected and shoot tranquilize darts at the passangers. That'd be fun.'' There were now several sweatdrops when i briefly looked at the sky.

''Tranquilizer? Thats dangerous!'' I ignored Choppers protest when another idea came to me.

''Actually, if i had some ninja claws, i could skill the side of the boat, and then come aboard at night and rob people. Man, you know a cruise ship would be loaded with loot and i have the perfect getaway vehicle; my giant Seaturtle. Hell! I could get the vacation pay for itself! I think i'd name my Seaturtle, Leonardo... or Michelangelo.'' I nodded to myself and saw that the crew were edging away from me with Luffy laughing at me.

''Those are stupid names.'' Usopp deadpanned at me with a pointed finger.

''Yeah, i guess your right.'' I said dejected until a thought came to me again. ''Maybe i could strap two giant water hoses on my Seaturtles shoulders. Then i could officially call it Blastoise.'' I pointed my finger to the distance. ''Blastoise! Use Hydropump!'' Thinking a bit, i nodded to myself at the brilliant idea that i came up with, again. ''I'd feel like a God!''

[30 minutes later]

After many debates between me and Luffy, we grew bored and walked in silence with Eyelashes next to me and Luffy the other. No one seemed to notice that Luffy suddenly stopped and leaned against a dried palmtree. Stopping, i crouched down next to Luffy while our nakamas walked forward. Oblivious to the two of us.

''Your also thinking that this whole idea of returning is pointless?'' I asked the rubber Captain who remained silent at my question. ''Thought as much.''

''Oi, Luffy! Ezekiel! What the hell are you guys doing!'' Usopp shouted at us. Looking at the crew who all looked back at us. I sat down next to my Captain with my Katana leaning on my chest. She gave me a cooling breeze for a few seconds until she calmed down with a small pat on it.

''What's wrong, Luffy-san? Ezekiel-san?'' Vivi asked us as i drummed my finger on my Katana, knowing full well what's going to happen now.

We were all silent at our small area we stopped. I kinda enjoyed the chilly wind, annoying sand grains in my eye and the upcoming headache that was coming. That all was broken by Luffys two words.

''I quit.''

I shrugged from my position. ''Aye.'' My affirmative came as a low grunt and got a little uncomfortable sitting on the sand.

''Quit?'' Nami asked in disbelief.

''Luffy-san, what do you mean?'' Vivi asked this time and if i'm not mistaking, confused as hell.

''Come on, guys. We don't have time to cater to your whims right now.'' Usopp told us but was answered by me with a shrug. ''Get up.''

''We're going back, aren't we?'' Chopper asked and turned towards me.

''Damn straight we are!'' Sanji shouted at us in annoyance. ''We're going to retrace our path back to Katorea and stop the Rebel Army.'' He said and pointed in random direction he guessed where Katorea located. ''If 1,000,000 people of this country clash, it's all over y'know! This is for Vivi-chan.''

''Captains orders, my hands are tied here.'' I told them with another shrug and received the cooling breeze again in the hot desert. _''I really have to pay you somehow.'' _I mentally thanked my Katana and got another breeze through my hair.

Sanji got irritated and moved towards Luffy and grabbed him by his red vest underneath the blood red robe. ''If thats the problem here then let's go.''

Luffy shoved Sanjis had away, where the cook then flew face first in the sand. It was humoring to me and managed to squeeze a light chuckle out of it.

''Don't care.'' The Captain said still with his eyes closed.

''WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING!'' Sanji shrieked.

''Vivi.'' Luffy began and i shifted my attention to the pirate Captain and the desert Princess.

''Yes?''

''I want to beat the crap out of _Crocodile_'' Luffy began with a angry glare and spat the Shichibukais name like a venom. He surprised me there for a second with the intensified glare, didn't know that Luffy had that much control over his emotions. ''If we stop all those rebels, will Crocodile stop? Even if we reach Katorea, there's nothing we can do. We're pirates, you know. You're better off going there without us.''

''Sometimes that senseless idiot really hits it on the head.'' Sanji said.

''Luffy can surprise us sometimes.'' Usopp added his own two cents.

''That... that isn't...'' Vivi tried to find right words as i mildly payed attention to her stuttering. The kid really needs to grow up from her naivety and the first thing to do about it is to risk something you held dear.

''All you want is for no one to die in this battle.'' Luffy said. ''Not the people of your country. Not any of us.'' He said and let that sink in to us. ''You're taking on a Shichibukai Pirate in a battle over a milloin people are preparing to fight in. And all you want is for no one to get hurt.'' Luffy then looked at her intently. ''Aren't you just fooling yourself?''

Vivi clenched her fists in restrained anger... or was it that Luffy was right and she's denying all that.

''Wait Luffy, can't you try to understand Vivi's feelings?'' Nami tried to reason with our Captain. I was still kinda miffed about her ealier behaviour towards me and if there's a chance of retribution, i'll take it. Good thing Sanji stopped her before i would've and it wouldn't end good. Not with her, not with anyone.

''Whats wrong with that!'' Vivi shouted. ''What's wrong with not wanting anyone to die?''

I glanced at Luffy who was leaning against the dried tree gave Vivi a look. ''People die.''

That was the last straw for Vivi as she gave a vicious right hook to Luffys head. Sending the guy sprawling towards the sands. She furiously shook her head and tried to get the words Luffy said out of her mind. ''Stop talking like that! I'm not going to let you say that again! That's exactly what we're trying to prevent!'' She was now panting hard, either from the heat or she was trying to calm herself down.

_''That girl is always about trying, which is good, but you can't let other emotions get to you if you want to succeed.''_ I thought and gave a quick glance at Luffy while listening to Vivi's speech.

''Not the Rebel Army, not the Royal Army. No one in this country is at fault! So why does anyone have to die! It's all Crocodile's fault!'' Vivi shouted in anger. Something that seemed unnatural to her.

Luffy, who was out of my of my vision suddenly emerged and gave his own punch to her face. ''Then why are YOU risking your life!'' Luffy shouted back at her with his head towards the clear sky.

''Oi Luffy, that's going too far!'' Usopp shouted and Sanji wasn't that much behind.

''Dammit, Luffy!'' At first i thought that he's going to interfere with the 'fight' that Luffy and Vivi had between themselves. Inwardly sighing in reliefe that the stupid cook didn't do anything stupid now of all times, i sheated my Katana back with a short 'click'. I didn't even know i unsheated it in the first place.

From my perspective, it was funny when Vivi glomped Luffy down and started to slapp his head left to right.

''From looking at this country, what need to be done most is-!'' Luffy tried to say but got another barrage of slaps from Vivi.

''What of it!

''...its even clear... to me!'' Luffy said between slaps. ''...you think risking your one life is going to be enough!''

''Then what am i supposed to risk! What am i-!'' Vivi shouted at him as Luffy grabbed both her hands and stopped her from beating the crap out of him. She calmed down after few shed tears saying: ''I have nothing else to risk, nothing.''

Luffy seemed to get mad at that and threw the Princess of himself. ''Try risking our lives along with yours! WE'RE YOUR NAKAMA!'' Vivi covered her mouth with her hand when Luffys words finally got through here, again. ''We're your nakama, right?''

I saw Nami was making her way to console the sobbing Princess. Grabbing her shoulder, i shook my head in negative and let her figure it out. _''Its for the best.'' _I thought to myself.

''What?'' Luffy began as he took the discarded straw hat on the sand. ''So it turns out... you do cry. You're the one suffering the most, and you want to beat the hell out of him more than anyone. Now tell me.'' Luffy said and stood up. ''Where is Crocodile?''

Vivi pointed left from our direction and i saw Luffy walk a small distance away from us until he came to a sudden stop. Sighing, i let go of Nami's shoulder and nodded to her. She went straight towards Vivi held her in a comforting hug.

_''Ugh, i hate mornings like these. Why can't morning be more like in those cereal commercials. God, i haven't eaten a breakfast for heaven's sake!''_

My mental rambling were broken by Vivi's announcement. ''Everyone! Luffy-san is right. I've made up my mind. We must go to where Crocodile is.''

''That's certailnly the shortest way.'' Nami said and i saw Luffy made his way back to us.

''So we don't have to deal with any more of these pain-in-the-ass detours.'' Zoro said.

''That is if we don't get ambushed, again.'' I groaned and rubbed my temple.

''Well then. Where is this shitty Crocodile guy?'' Sanji asked as we all crouched down to see the map of Arabasta Vivi unfurled.

''Lets see. This is the Capital, Alubarna, where my father governs from. Right now the Rebel Army is here,'' Vivi pointed at Katorea. ''on their way to assault Alubarna.''

''So we just have to beat Crocodile before they get there.'' Sanji mused and i grew a tick mark over my head. I was also about to saw something that would de-moralize the crew, but thankfully managed to calm myself.

''And Crocodile...'' Vivi said and now pointed at the red dot in the map. ''...is here.''

I looked closer where she pointed when a epiphany of the word next not her finger hit me in the head, literally. ''Rainbase...''

''You know that place?'' Vivi asked me as i got shuffled my pouch for the Iphone.

''More or less. What i do know is that the people here call it: 'City of Dreams'. Mostly because it continued thriving even during the drought...'' I got what i wanted from my pouch and held my Iphone in front of me. Browsing through my stuff in there, i came across my notes and smile to myself.

''What are you smiling about?'' Zoro inquired.

''Tell me, Vivi. How long does it take for us to get there?'' I asked the Princess, still with the smile on that seemed to set her on ease.

''I-if we travel directly north, we'll reach it in a day or so.''

I nodded and closed the keypads on my Iphone. ''Good, i guess we make our move then.''

[4 hours Later]

''Aaaaaah...'' Luffy and Usopp panted in exhaustion, walking with their dried stick canes to support themselves.

''Come on, i've already told you two to quit with the 'Aaah's.'' Nami berated the panting duo.

''Shut up! You're one to talk, riding that camel!'' Usopp shouted with Luffy agreeing. Sighing, i took my headphones on and began to tune out the rest of the guys arguments against Nami.

_''Static-Globe, a Power Fragment of Electricity. Albeit its power depends on its size, the things has its uses for varying purposes.''_ I thought back at what the old man from the Wastelanders explained to me about the weird orbs. _''According to him, people use these as weapons. But against what? He never explained that to me. Was it for Monsters? Beasts? Humans? Pirates?... Devils? Okay, i'm getting out of the subject here. Guess Dax'st and me have to figure this one out too, amongs many other things.''_

''...After i kick Crocodile's ass, you gotta feed me until i die!'' Luffy shouted and i was confused at that.

''That i have to see!'' I said grinning and imagined Luffy's cause of death being a giant meat chunk stuck in his throat. ''Man, i'd videotape that!''

''Yes Luffy, i promise.'' Vivi answered Luffys question and turned to me. ''Ezekiel-san, you forgot to mention that Rainbase also has a large gambling industry.''

''Oh, that slipped my mind, sorry.'' I rubbed my head in slight embarrasement. She smiled back to me and giggled at my behaviour. Shaking my head, i stopped and crouched down to see the rippling sand under me that looked suspicious. ''This looks odd...''

''Oi! Why'd you stop?'' Luffy asked and also crouched down to see what i was looking at. ''Sugoooi! A living sand!'' He was about to touch it when something fast emerged from there, hitting us both in our heads at the same time.

''Itai! Itai!'' Me and Luffy shouted and fell on our backs. The other guys where on their fighting stance, but stopped when they heard me laughing my ass off.

''Stop it! Hahahahaha! It tickles!'' The creature that was currently licking my face was the weird fish/lizard beast that accompanied us in the underground cave search.

''It's you!'' Luffy shouted and the lizard jumped on his back, coiling its tail around the rubbermans torso. She also gave him a lick to his cheek and panted like a dog. ''I thought we would never see you again!''

''What is that... a monster!'' Usopp shrieked and i rolled my eyes at him.

''No. SHE, helped me and Luffy find those weird orbs. Without her, we probably would've died back there searching for it.'' I said and got a nod from our unnamed lizard.

''Vivi-chan, do you know what...'' Sanji began and look at my direction. ''...her, species are?''

Much to our surprise, Vivi shook her head. ''I'm afraid i haven't seen something quite like it, which means they tend to avoid humans like many others unknown creatures here.''

''Makes sense. Even i would be bored to see your ugly faces.'' I said bluntly and _was_ about to receive a kick to the head by Nami. Unfortunately for the navigator, she kicked the now boulder-headed lizard who jumped from Luffys shoulder to mine and gave Nami a hard glare after intersepting the kick. The lizards head turned back to normal brown one and began to growl now.

''Sugoooi! She's awesome!'' Luffy cheered as i patted my shoulders accupier of the day beside the usual Daxter or Chopper. I also noticed that she was heavier than the last time and slightly grown up.

''Aren't we full of surprises.'' I said and now scratched her under the chin. ''I think i'll name you... Angel.'' The now named Angel snuggled my cheek with her scaly snout and gave a few brief sniff to me and Luffy. ''What are you doing so far from your home?''

Angel gave me what i thought was a sad, hurtful look and let out a humming/chirping sound that lizards in the zoo make. I understod what she was saying and nodded to her as Chopper began to translate for the no-animal-symphatizers, as i put it.

''Angel says that after she got separated from her mother, she got lonely and wanted to play with someone.'' Chopper said.

''So thats why you nearly broke our windshield. I thought you were about to kill us.'' I said and was about to lose half of my head by that remark. Growling, Angel continued her story.

''She also said that until now she couldn't find her mother and followed your scent here.'' Our reindeer translator said.

I winced a bit at that new found information. The giant lizard that was being devoured was killed and eated by the Shadow Ghouls. I wasn't sure though, that _could've _been her mother.

''Hey, didn't we see another of those mystery lizard dead?'' Luffy asked me. I palmed my face and shut him up with a clip on the ear.

''You don't say those like talking about the weather, baka. (idiot.)'' I reprimanded him. The rubberman can sometimes be admiring serious one time and a complete fucktard the second. I didn't know about lizards being capable of crying, but i was glad Angel didn't. She took a remorseful expression and i took it upon myself to cheer her up. ''Angel listen. It wasn't your fault at all. The desert around here are dangerous for any living being.'' _''F*ck, i suck at consoling someone.''_

I wasn't doing much cheering up here and figure that i'd let time heal her wounds. I could sympathize with her, well actually anyone who lost their parents to some degree.

Anyways, she stayed silent on my shoulder and i listened to my music for god knows how long until i took the headphones off.

''We're here!'' Luffy cheered and i looked at the city in sight with the large pyramide and the ugly ass crocodile statue on top of it. ''YOSH! I'M GONNA KICK CROCODILE'S ASS!''

Angel gave me a deadpanned look and started to hum. ''Yeah, he's always like that.''

''So this is Rainbase.'' Luffy said and petted Angle on the head.

''I was expecting... more. This place looks like a hobo's Las Vegas to me.'' I said and looked at all the sand and dusty buildings made of sand.

''Hey, you guys think Baroque Works knows we're in this country yet?'' Zoro asked.

''Most likely.'' Nami surmised. ''We ran into Mr. 2 on our way here. It's safe to assume they know we're here.''

''Who cares.'' Luffy said.

''They'll reconize our faces. We can't go running around all over Rainbase.'' Usopp told the reckless Captain.

''You can't, but i sure as hell can and will.'' I boasted and decided to stealth my way around the city. ''Will Angel accompany me?'' The lizard gave me a lick to my cheek, obviously much happier than few hour ago.

I then heard Usopp telling Luffy that if someone finds us, there's no way in hell we'll be able to lay a hand on Crocodile. Not that Luffy wont be out of trouble from this one thats for damn sure.

''Assassination is their field of specialty, after all.'' Zoro said. In inwardly chuckled, since that's what those Shinobis from Naruto used to do. Kinda hard to believe its a kids show, although they try to sensor the blood and guts from it. Not working i tell ya.

''I find that hard to believe. Usually assassination's are done silently without anyone noticing your existence even after their target is dead. From what i saw, the agents are barely acknowledgiable in their respective areas. Bunch of green nosed buttcrackers to me.'' I said and got a hum from Angel. ''Your right sweety, underestimating your enemies, regardless of their appearance will result in immediate death, good girl, you've earned your snack.''

''COME ON OUT, CROCODILE!'' Luffy shouted again as me and Angel sighed at him.

''Were you even listening, you dork!'' Usopp bashed Luffys head upside down.

''No matter who tries to come after us, i'll be the one to protect Nami-san and Vivi-chan! You two can call me, Prince!'' Sanji said and i faintly heard glittering sounds around him.

_''Must be the sun getting the better of me or Mr 2. is nearby.''_ I thought with a sigh. That got Sanjis attention locked on me and i could practically smell the shit eating grin behind me.

''Oh, so we're jealous over there?'' I looked at Sanji over my left shoulder with a raised brow.

''Meh, i'm sure you'll do fine.''

''What's that supposed to mean?'' Sanji shouted at me and got a growl from Angel at the raised voice. ''Do you think i can't do my job?''

''Can you?'' I questioned. ''Then prove me wrong.'' Sanji was silent for a second or two until he let it go. _''He's a cool guy, a asshole at times, but means well. I guess. If it has something to do with women then i have to install some Bro-rules to him.'' _I looked at him again. ''Dick.''

''What was that?''

''Nothing.''

''I need water.'' Usopp panted again.

''ME TOO!'' Luffy shouted and ran ahead to the city with Usopp in tow. ''Water! Water!''

''Wait, Luffy!'' Usopp shouted behind the running Luffy. It was a amusing sight to see that got Angel grin her sets of sharp teeths.

''Ah! Take some money with you!'' Nami shouted after them in empty attempt as the two running stooges kept... running.

''You were giving off free money?'' I asked Nami incredulously who gave me a grin.

''Who said they were free?''

I shook my head and turned to my lizard companion. ''See Angel, those kind of people have a special place in hell called; Jersey Shore.''

''Sounds like a good place to me.'' Nami said.

I made a small pray for her with my hands clasped together. ''Make her punishment as excruciating as possible.''

''Amen.'' Zoro also prayed, mostly out of humor.

[Rainbase Market District]

We eventually found a nice shady place to lounge and set Angel on the ground for her to walk around a bit.

''I'm gonna take a leak.'' Chopper told us.

''Maa~ Tony-kun, manners...'' I wagged my finger at his direction with a frown. ''You have to say that your going to use the loot as the good ol' British. I always like them, funny chimps, champs and chumps.''

''Ezekiel-nii, you're weird.''

I smiled at the reindeer. ''That's why you like me, admit it.'' I said to Choppers retreating back and heard him chuckle to himself. I looked around and couldn't spot Angel anywhere. Whistling, i tried to call her. ''Angel! Come 'ere girl!''

''She probably ran away from seeing all these people around.'' Zoro said and i grew sad about the fact.

''You maybe right...'' I said and felt a slight tremor under me that was going straight at Zoro. Suddenly, out of the ground bursted the brown scaled lizard who after bumping heads with Zoro dashed towards me. ''Beautiful, where have you been?''

Angel showed me her tail holding a small bag that made some jingling noises and dropped it onto my awaiting hand. Opening it, i smiled at the devious lizard and scratched her under the chin.

''Why that little...'' Zoro said and started to curse about his presumably broken jaw.

''Toughen up, man. Grimace doesn't suit you.'' I held the bag in front of me. ''There's about enough for Operation: Ocean 15 to commence.'' I said with a grin and heard a bunch of shouting heading our way. ''It seems that phase one started so i see you guys later. Oh, and Sanji...'' I turned to our cook who gave me a nod. ''...try not to disappoint me.''

That said i use Shunshin (Body Flicker) to the nearest rooftop and watched the pirates run away from the marines. I took note of the Billoins scouting around and decided to test my stealth and evasive skills.

''Alright Angel, this is just like in Assassins Creed, Metal Gear Solid and some Naruto bullcrap. So you ready to loot the casino?''

She gave me a eager grin and saw her scales jagged up in excitement. I raised my eyebrow at her behaviour and made a mental note to get to know her better about those.

**[To Be Continued]**

Yes, Ezekiel is going to rob the casino as part of his... dream of living to the fullest. He will do other crazy things like blow up something important or other things.

Review or i'm going to use my Blastoise on you... once i get one.

Off to sleep, again. -


	34. Breaking In

**Chapter 34: Breaking-in.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

''These guys _do_ know how raise hell.'' I whispered to Angel who nodded from my shoulder. We were currently hiding in a dark alley observing a group of Billion who were observing the running Pirates here in Rainbase. Might as well get some vital info about our current status while i'm at it.

''Thats them! Its the Straw Hats!'' Billoin#1 exclaimed.

''What do you think we should do?'' Billion#2 said as i slowly crept towards them. There were actually 4 of them with the other 2 inside a building about a block from here. I pointed my finger at Billion#2 and then at my neck. I got a quick nod from Angel and saw her charge forward and coiled her long scaly tail around the Billions neck.

''What the-!'' Billion#1 was about to turn around to his partner, but i stopped him by placing my hand in his mouth and grabbed his right shoulder from behind.

''Ophiuchus (The Snake Holder)'' I whispered and got a noticable crack that came from his neck. The man lost his conscious as i was careful not to outright kill him. _''Not that i could care much about his life. They are evil men working for a evil... yeah he's dead.''_ I thought kicking the body and looked at Angel who finished with her target. ''I think you went overboard.'' I said and looked at her victim whose face had terror written all over his face

Angel pouted and climbed my body towards where she rested her head in my shoulder. _''Forgive me about that. Didn't know you humans are such fragile creatures.''_

I sighed at her antics. ''Very well, just make sure that the other two are breating. I need to interrogate them.'' Angel nodded as i jumped on the nearest rooftop towards the other two Billions. After a minute or two, we eventually spotted them taking a break on the balcony with cigars hanging from their respective mouths.

''Aaah~ a bounty hunters life is exhausting.'' Billion#3 said to his partner.

''You said it! I wish something exciting would happen though.'' Billion#4 said wistful and began to argue with his partner about something irrelevant.

''Okay Angel, we only need information, so no unnesassary kills.''I whispered to her and went to the other end of the balconys room where i previously saw an open window there. Stepping inside, i was greeted by lots of dusts, large plastic bags and ropes. I took the ropes with me and crept behind the two oblivious Billions.

''Partner, did i ever tell you how much i love y-!'' Billion#4 was about confess something, but me and Angel pulled them inside and beat the crap out of them. Quickly tying them up with the rope, i threw them in the far corner to be questioned.

''Alright scumbags, my name is Mr. Snugglebottom and i'm here to interrogate you two.'' I said to my two 'clients'. I also activated my Sharingans and leaked Killing Intent to make them more co-operative. And whaddya now, it worked. _''I can't be that scary, can i?''_

''W-w-what d-do you w-want?'' Billion#4 stuttered and i let out a cold chuckle, unnerving them more as i walked towards them. Slowly i might add.

''I want many things in general, but you forgot to ask what i _desire_.'' I grinned maliciously. ''What i desire, gentlemen, is something that could be consider as wrong, evil and...'' I walked even closer to them, making sure that they were looking into my red spinning eyes. ''...inhumane.''

''P-please let us go, Mr. Snugglebottom-sama! We promise, whatever we did, we'll stop it.'' Billion#3 paniced and i resisted the urge to sweatdrop.

_''Perhaps i should've choosen a better alias.''_ I frowned at them. ''Tell me everything you know about Rain Dinners.''

They both paled and i heard Angel growl at them. ''W-w-we c-can't.''

''Enlighten me.''

''The B-Boss w-w-will kill us if we say anything about his businesses.''

''And how's that any different about what i'm going to do to you?'' I asked and got small mutterings from them. ''How's this, you tell me a bit about the security over there and i just let you go. Simple as that.''

''Really?''

''Depends on your answer.'' I said and summoned a Kunai that i threw next to the Billion#3 neck where the sharp knife embedded on the wall he was leaning on to. The Billion was about to scream, but i managed to shut the guy up with the bottom of my boots. ''Scream one more time, i swear to God that i will force you watch yourself being eaten alive.'' I snarled and repeated the action until blood floowed down his forehead. The crimson liquid mixed itself with the man's tears as i mentally snorted.

[10 Minutes Later]

I could only grin in satisfaction when the two morons blabbered everything out. Though it wasn't much, it still beat the purpose of breaking into the casino with next to no intel. Untying the two beated Billions, i smiled at them. They both back away from me and hugged eachother in sheer fright.

''Gentlemen, what have we learned today?''

''To not disappoint Mr. Snugglebottom-sama.'' Billion#3 furiously nodded. The poor man was introdused to Angel who nibbed his ear off.

''And what happens when Mr. Snugglebottom-sama is disappointed?''

''He will cut our ass cheeks, and then force us to sit in a bowl of vinegar.'' Billion#4 said hesitantly until i nodded and lead them downstairs with my arms around their neck in a friendly manner.

''Very good, now, Mr. Snugglebottom-sama wants you two to do something for him. I hope i'm not being too needy.''

''What is it?'' Billion#4 asked and nodded again. Stopping for a second, i took a note and a pencil from the dusty table nearby. Quickly scribbling something on it and unfolding it, i gave the note to Billion#3.

''Give this letter to your Boss by any means necessary you see fit.'' I then gave them a menacing glare. ''Do i make myself clear?''

''Loud and clear, Mr. Snugglebottom-sama!'' The both Billions said. I opened the door for them with a gentle smile from me and Angel. They both stepped outside and looked at the sky. I patted them on their back and took a deep, calming breath.

''Aah, nothing beats a good conversation amongs friends than a fresh, dry, dusty air. I see you guys sometimes later, its up to you when that will be.'' I heard two gulps and went back inside and broke off laughing. ''Hahahahaha! Oh man! My nakamas are probably in grave danger and all i can think about is freaking more people.''

_''Darling, there's still the matter with the casino.''_ Angel reminded me and started to burp.

''You alright?''

_''I'll be fine, the humans ear i ate is starting a rebellion in my stomach.''_

''You actually _ate_ the ear?'' I asked in horror that quickly changed into one of indifference. ''How's it taste like?''

_''Kinda like what you humans say every time you taste new meat; Tastes like chicken.''_ Angel huffed at me and climbed on my shoulder. _''I ate that and other things i found around here.''_

I shrugged at the answer. She is a lady and as a lady, she can look after her diet for all i care.

Shaking my head, i took off and jumped from rooftop to rooftop. ''There aren't many Billions lounging around the rooftops anymore. What do you think happened?''

_''Those human friend of yours probably caused problems for them to discard their positions.''_ Angel deadpanned at me.

''That just makes my job that much easier.''

_''Your not worried about them?''_

''Heavens no! If they all die, i'll just wish them back with the dragonballs.''

_''…''_

''...''

*Stomp!* *Whooooosh*

_''…''_

''…''

*Stomp!* *Whooooosh*

_''…''_

''Oh golly! Were here!'' I cheered as i landed on the nearest rooftop beside the Rain Dinners. ''Now, where to begin...''

_''You really need help, you know that.''_

I smiled at my scaly companion. ''Your not the first one to say that and i'm sure your not the last.'' I looked at the blue and gold striped pyramide with the ugly ass crocodile on top of it. ''What do you say if we-.''

''Scrolls for sale! Scrolls for sale! Come and get your scrolls here!'' I was interrupted by a local salesman selling scrolls of every sizes. Looking up, i flashed a thumbs up and stood up from my spot.

''I think someone loves me, a lot.'' I said and looked at Angel. ''Get inside the robe, i think i have a plan.''

_''You think?''_ Angel grumbled as i glared at her. _''Fiine...''_ She then crawled inside my robe and i could feel my shirt underneath it being ripped by her claws. I was lucky that she tried not to peel my skin off.

''Alrighty then. There's no reason to use a Henge here if i keep my hood on.'' I said and jumped on the nearest alley. Walking towards the old salesman with the frilly white hair, i waved at him. ''Oi, ossan. What kind of scrolls do you have?''

He spotted me and began to rub his hands together in business manner i've seen these old men do all the time.

''Yes, yes. We have all kinds of scrolls, please, have a look around.''

Nodding, i took in what he had to offer. _''He doesn't really have a much, but hey: beggars can't be choosers.''_ I thought and took a scroll about 1 metre long and weighted about 7-8 kilos. ''This'll do fine, how much?''

''Not much, just 6,000 berries.''

I shrugged and took the bag of berries that Angel 'found' and gave it to the salesman. Of course i gave him the correct amount and still had something left. I then took my scroll and strapped it in my lower back with the black belt Daxter bought for me. Waving at the happy salesman, i strutted to another dark alley.

_''What now?''_ Angel asked inside my stomach. It looked funny to me and i began to chuckle. Setting my both index and middle fingers from both hands in a cross, there was a column of smoke that was quickly vanishing. _''Thats cool you know.''_

''I'm glad you like it.'' I said and looked at my clone who was... twitching his eyes and felt agitated. ''Okay, Clone-kun. I want you to search for the brat Vivi and cover for her.''

''Fiine, but if she get any traumas you'll be responsible from it.'' The clone said and vanished in a column of fire.

''What was that all about?'' I said and shrugged after a minute. ''I guess i'm being a dick today.''

_''Oh, so you've noticed.''_ Angel chuckled at me.

[Rain Dinner's Entrance]

''Were here.'' I said and felt Angel squirming behind the robe i wore. ''Stay still, i feel like your tearing my guts open.'' I whispered at my stomach.

_''Zip it and get a move on it!''_

I groaned at the situation and gazed around the widely opened door. Truth be told, the security here is pretty relaxed and i was surprised that no one took notice of me when i walked in.

Though, there is a reason why.

''CROCODILE! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE!''

I facepalmed and felt every eye on the casino was on Luffy and his entourage consisting of Nami, Usopp and Zoro. Deciding to use the distraction, i walked towards the door on the far back of the building. The people inside ignored Luffys outburst and i had to stop since the security were looking around with suspicious intent.

''I'M GONNA KICK IT FROM HERE TO ALUBARNA!''

_''I really need to thank him later... not._'' I thought with a light chuckle and saw a cart being moved by one of the secury guards. The man had black suit with sunglasses and mick on his ear. Grinning, i followed him while putting berries on random machines and pulling the lever on it. I briefly saw that out of the 12 machines i slotted, 4 of them won the grand prize. The customers here didn't see the user and started to collect the berries themself, which caused a major havoc near the berry spitting machines.

''VIVI! CROCODILE! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!'' Luffy, Nami and Usopp shouted and i nearly lost my cool here. Shaking my head, i saw the man in the suit walk inside an elevator behind the Assistant Manager after pushing some buttons. Or so the guy with the bowl cut hair said behind him.

I was currently behind one of the white and gold pillars near the elevator and saw it was going down. ''So thats where they secure the money.'' I surmised and began to eavesdrop on them

''Assistant Manager, some unusual characters have entered the establishment.'' The bowl hair cut-man said, nervousness in his voice.

The Assistant Manager snorted. ''Have security take care of them. We cannot have their kind causing any disturbances.''

There was suddenly shoutings and crashing all around the casino. I then identified one extra individuals shout amongs the Pirates. _''Smoker.''_ I though and remembered that the guy's also supposed to cause havoc in here.

''Manager, this is a disaster.'' The Assistant turned to his higher ups and i saw the smug faced Ms. Allsunday smirking. ''There are strange people rampaging through the casino.''

I wasn't sure if she knew i was hiding around here and stayed for few more seconds to see if my 'cover' blew up on me.

''Show them to the VIP room.'' Miss Allsunday said. ''An order from the Owner, Crocodile.''

The Assistant was speechless when he shook his head. ''Speaking of the Boss, there were some strange individuals that said they had an important letter for him.''

Miss Allsunday raised a delicate eyebrow from the information and i was pretty sure that i wasn't spotted, yet. ''Oh, from who?''

''They said that it came from a man they can't talk about, but they did say that he knows about Bosses plans. Something called, Utopia, i don't know. Thats all they said and ran away from the casino.''

I grinned when i saw the brief moment of Miss Allsunday widening her eyes. It would've passed off as nothing for most people, but not from me. I know how, when and every w's, if people show emotions. And she's no different form the rest of the herds i've encountered. The Assitant gave the letter to her and i saw her walk away. Presumably to Crocodile.

The woman with the white cowboy hat and coat walked towards the same elevator the man in the suit walked and pushed a codepad near it. I activated my Sharingans and copied the movements of her fingers to see which buttons she pushed. Grinning as she stepped on the opened elevator, i decided to cause another distraction.

''YOSH! LET'S GO!'' I heard Luffy shout. I also heard another shout that stopped me in my tracks.

''STOP RIGHT THERE AND TELL ME WHERE MY ONII-SAMA IS!''

''I think someone upstairs hates me.'' I slumped my shoulders when i heard Shellys shout all over the casino.

_''Told you so.''_ Angel sniggered.

Ignoring her, i saw that the Assistant Manager was distracted with him talking to his suborbinates. I was by now in front of the keypad and quickly pushed the buttons i copied from Ms. Allsunday and quickly stepped inside the elevator. As it shut the doors, i let out a sigh and pushed my hood off my head. There was also the now familiar feeling of someone climbing on my body towards my shoulder.

''~This is ground control to major Tom, you've really made the grade...  
>And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear<br>Now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare...~'' I began to sing out of boredom for the lack of elevator music in here.

_''Terrible lyrics...''_ Angel told me with a glare.

''David Bowie.''

_''Oh... okay...''_

[Meanwhile in prison, General POV]

The now six people find themselves in a prison made of Kairoseki and were currently glaring at eachother. The tense silence was broken by Luffy readying his fist, Zoro his swords, Smoker his jutte and Shelly had her hands in Snake Seal.

''Wait wait!'' Usopp shrieken in panic and weved his hands. ''How can you two think of fighting at a time like this!''

''Besides, he's a Smokeman; your attacks won't affect him.'' Nami said and looked from Smoker to Shelly. ''And she has the same abilities as Ezek-kun, God knows what she's capable of.''

''She's right...'' A cold voice rang around. ''...just give up.'' The prisoners looked towards the akvarium and for the first time spotted a desk. Behind the desk was a antique-looking red chair where the voice came from. ''You're all going to be dying together. Why not try and get along?''

''Crocodile.'' Smoker muttered with disgust in his gruff voice.

''What?'' Luffy questioned and looked towards the red chair that was slowly turning around. Sitting on the chair was the Shichibukai the Straw Hat Captain was determined to beat.

''So he's one of the Shichibukai...'' Zoro stated the obvious while Nami and Usopp were shrinking in fear.

''He doesn't look special to me.'' Shelly said flatly and moved her black ponytailed hair over her shoulder with the back of her left hand. Though, her remark caused Crocodile to scowl at her, but kept his cool as he likes to keep himself above others.

''Our long-awaited host finally shows his face.'' Smoker said.

''Whatever, i'm sure Onii-sama can kick his ass!'' The younger marinette cheered.

''Who?'' Usopp inquired.

''You know. Tall, dark, handsome...'' Shelly said and started to count her fingers.

''I'm beginning to think she also has issues.'' Zoro whispered to his crewmates and got nod from them. Even Smoker nodded after his little conversation with Crocodile.

''She's been like that ever since Vane defeated her.''

''...he has two swords, Sharingans, my spear...''

''Ezek-kun has completely denied her being his sibling.'' Nami said flatly, breaking Shelly out of her thoughs and stopped her from counting her toes.

''W-what?''

''Thats what he said. He also said to me that he's whole families are gone.''

''B-but their still al-!'' Shelly was about to shout back when Smoker pinned her down with his jutte-weapon next to the cage.

''I don't have to take any of this. Listen, your a Marine and as a Marine your job is to preserve justice. As long as your a Marine and Vane is a Pirate, this siblings love will end, now!''

The Pirates were shocked at the brutality shown, but it was Crocodiles chuckle that woked Smoker up from his short burst of rage. ''My, my. Does justice also require beating on helpless children.'' Smoker didn't say anything and sat on a bed that was at the far corner and sulked in there.

[With Ezekiels Clone, General POV]

''F***ing Boss giving me this Fu**ed up assignment. I swear to God i will slaughter someone just to get this day behind me.'' The Clone, who now named himself Eligos grumbled and got wary looks from the people around him. He then came to a sudden stop and glared at the people closest to him. ''The F*ck your looking at! Huh!''

It was a salesman who tried to get a living for himself and his family. Eligos walked towards him with a glare and grabbed him by his collar. ''I-i-i was just wondering if you're perhaps intrested in our selection of gadgets.''

''Gadgets?'' Eligos raised his eyebrow and looked at the small box the salesman placed in front of him. Without even asking, Eligos digged trough the box and tried to search for something useful.

''P-please t-t-take your t-time.''

''Aha! You _do_ have these!'' Eligos grinned maliciously at the salesman. _''Just like the old times.''_ He thought and was almost crying, almost. ''Alright old man. You've proven your worth and i'd like to buy these ones.''

The salesman looked at the odd selection, but wasn't going to question his psychotic customer of the day. Nodding, Eligos placed some money he shortly pickpocketed and placed it in front of the salesman

''Sir, theres still some berries mis-.'' The saler tried to remind the crazy teen, but the red eyes of his stopped him from saying anything and proceeded to smile. ''Have a nice day, sir.''

''Oh i will, i will definitely have a _nice_ day.'' Eligos chuckled darkly and vanished in a column of fire, scaring the salesman who fearfully ran away. ''Now, off to search our roral hineyness.''

[5 Minutes Later, With Vivi, General POV]

_''I can't afford to be held up here any longer._'' Vivi though as she spun the twin sharp jewels attached to her fingers by wires. Currently she was surrounded by dozens of dozens of Billion. _''I've got to-'' _Vivis thoughs were interrupted by one of the Billions slamming their weapons on her back. The Princess cried in pain and fell on the ground with her Peacock Slasher who lost their spinning momentum.

''You're quite the violent one, Princess.'' A Billion sneered in arrogance and held his gun pointed at Vivis head. ''Then again, that what we'd expect from a former Fron-.'' The Billion began his monologue, but was caught off guard by something biting his shoulder from behind. He and his assailant fell on the floor with the former now crying in horrid pain.

''What the hell!'' ''Shit! Butch!'' The surrounding Billions shouted at the brown-haired bounty hunter named Butch and looked at the figure gnauging at his shoulder.

The figure suddenly stopped and slowly turned around to look at his surroundings with cold red eyes that had two commas in it. His black hair was messed up and was gave a predatory grim at them. What scared the Billions was the jagged teets he was slowly opening to reveal another sets behind the first one. Out of his mouth came a nasty slimy tongue and wiped the blood off from the corner of his eye.

''**Guess who's back, bitches!**'' Ezekiels clone or Eligos, as he likes to be called now said behind the demonic/metallic voice changing device.

''Ezekiel-san!'' Vivi shouted but had problems if she should be cheering in delight or run away in fear. Her past traumas in Whiskey Peak didn't vanish and was slowly surfacing back to her.

''**Chill kiddo, i'm not here to eat you or anything. I already had my meals from those guys back there.**'' Eligos said and pointed behind the bounty hunters he slammed out of comission. The group edged away from him and didn't notice the quick wink he gave to Vivi. ''**Gentelmen,**'' The 'demonized' pirate said as he took three Kunais and equal amount of Explosive Tags he got from his Boss. He slowly began to roll the tags around the handel of the Kunai while licking his teeths ''**You know how when they say that your either part of the help or part of the problem? Well they're talking about you.**'' Eligos went to Vivi and motioned her to climb on his back. Complying, the Princess wrapped her arms around Eligos neck and leaned on his shoulder. Eligos then threw the three Kunais with the Tags near the bounty hunters, confusion written on their faces. ''**There, now your part of the solution.**''

With another grin, Eligos vanished in a column of fire with the Princess letting out a short yelp. ''The hell is he?'' One of the Billions guestioned.

''What are these?'' Another asked and picked the Kunai up. The second he touched the modified Kunai, it began to hiss at him. ''These are noth-!''

[About a mile away, With Eligos and Vivi]

''What were those knives, Ezekiel-san?'' Vivi inquired with a light blush.

''**The toothpicks?**'' Eligos stopped and looked at the distance where they escaped from. ''**Three, two-!**''

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

There was three large explosions from the area where they escaped moments ago. ''**Bummer, i still need to practice my timing.**''

''Ezekiel-san! That was highly unnesassary!''

''**What did you want me to do? Throw bird seeds a them?**'' Eligos shot back. ''**And the names now Eligos, i'm one of Bosses clones here to assist you.**'' He then looked up towards the sky with narrow eyes to block some of the sunlight beating down on him. ''**Speaking of birds.**''

There was a whooshing sound before them and a huge falcon landed in front of the Princess and Eligos. The falcon began to change more into a human with purple lines under each eye. He wore a long white robe with brown star-like motifs on it and a matching hat.

''Pell! You came for me!'' Vivi shouted, this time in joy.

''It has been a very long time, Vivi-sama.'' Pell made a short bow while keeping his guard up. ''And who might this be?'' He gestured to Ezekiel/Eligos.

''He's name is currently Eligos, he is a clone of the original that was sent here to protect me.'' Pell raised his brow questioningly, but decided to ask later. ''Pell, what of Father?''

Here Pell smiled at Vivi who got off Eligos back. ''He is well. The King and i both read your letter, Vivi-sama.''

''Then... Carue made it to Alubarna safely?''

''Yeah, he is quite a brave spot-billed duck.''

''**I didn't doubt the duck for one second.**'' Eligos added.

''Whats with his voice?'' Pell said and looked at Vivi who slumped her shoulders. Eligos gave him a grin and a wave with his tongue. ''And his... appearance.''

''Its a stupid prank of his that he used to save me.'' Vivi vouched for him lest her childhood guardian attacks him.

''I see. Anyways, we now know our enemy. Thanks to you and Igaram-san, everything has become clear.'' Vivi and Eligos nodded at the information as Pell noticed more Billions on their way.

''**Great, the fun just doesn't end around here does it?.**'' Eligos sighed and rolled up his sleeves. ''**Guess i have to...**''

''No, please. I'll handle this.'' Pell cut Eligos off with his arm and stared at his opponents. ''You've done our country a huge favour and its a common courtesy here to return it.''

Ignoring the awed shouts from the Billions, Eligos shrugged and glared down at them. ''**Fine, but you owe me a muffin.**''

''I can accept that.'' Pell smiled and turned into a falcon where he started to dash and slice the bounty hunters around.

''He disappeared!'' A Billion shouted and looked around as a breeze went past him.

Eligos whistled at that. ''**That's fast alright.**''

''Tobizume! (Flying Talon!)'' Pell cried and the Billions were scattered around like dirty socks. After the shout, Pell turned back to his human form.

''We're safe! Now we must hurry to the others.'' Vivi said when a voice rang behind them.

''Oh, that makes it all the easier for me. What a splendid display.''

''Miss Allsunday!'' Vivi shouted in horror.

''Now they're of no more use to me. My precious company employees.''

''**You do remember my last threat.**'' Eligos snarled at her and took a steady stance against her.

''It still rings in the back of my mind, but...'' Miss Allsunday waved her arms in a cross where hands started to sprout around Eligos. ''I wonder if you're stronger than i am.''

''**Why don't you let go of me and find out?**''

''Why bother? I've already won.'' She replied. ''If you don't mind, i'd like to invite the Princess to our establishment. Would you be so kind to join us?''

Pell was looking at the whole spectacle and didn't like it one bit. ''Do not make suck preposterous requests. It is out of the question.''

''Is that so?''

''QUIT MOCKING US!'' Vivi shouted and charged at Miss Allsunday with the wire-jewel-thing.

Her outstreched left arm was redirected away by Crocodiles Assistant with ease. ''A Princess mustn't use such brazen language, Miss Wednesday.''

''**Cut the crap! You killed Igaram!**'' Eligos shouted and tried to get free of his restrains.

''Igaram?'' Miss Allsunday questioned. ''Oh, you mean Mr. 8.''

''Then... you're the one who killed Igaram-san?'' Pell said in shock which slowly turned into anger.

''What are you three so upset about? You think that is any different from what you just did to my employees?''

''**Like you even care about them.**'' Eligos snarled.

She shrugged at the answer. ''I meant the other Officer Agents, these here are just pawns to be used.'' Miss Allsunday said and punched Vivi in the stomach. The shocking part was her arm going trought the Princess who gasped in surprise.

''YOU WITCH!'' Pell shouted and transformed into his falcon-mode. Taking a stance, he charged forward with immense speed. Miss Allsunday laughed at him and threw the Princess off with no visible damage that went unnoticed by the angry bird. ''I'll turn you into Arabasta sand!''

''**Pell! Don't!**''

''Tres Fleur'' Miss Allsunday said when hands also sprouted from Pell. He looked at the sprouting arms in shock when they restrained his talon hands and wings. The eagleman crashed on the same rooftop where the three humans stood.

''Pell...'' Vivi groaned and coughed where she slowly tried to stand up.

''Vivi-sama!'' Pell shouted. ''Are you injured?''

''Did it look like i impaled her?''

''**No, it looked like you-mrrhph!**'' Eligos tried to cuss on her, but another arm sprouted on his shoulder where it clasped his mouth shut.

''There is absolutely no need to use such vulgar words on me, Mr. Vane.'' Miss Allsunday fake smiled at him when Eligos and Pell started struggle more. ''No need to get so worked up. I'm just having a little fun.''

''So you have an ability of the Devil's Fruit.'' Pell stated.

_''**No shit skippy!**''_ Eligos furiously thought and tried to bite the hands off his mouth. Miss Allsunday then began to introduse her Devil Fruit-powers where more arms sprouted and pinned Eligos down.

''You cannot escape from me.''

''Escape? Don't be ridiculous! I will avenge Igaram-san right now!'' Pell shouted and unsheated his sword.

''I'm sorry. I would love to entertain you longer, but i simply don't have the time.'' Miss Allsunday fake smiled at Pell and got the falconman in a blind rage.

''THEN BE RELIEVED, YOU WILL NOT NEED IT!''

''**Mrrghr hmprg hgrm!**'' Eligos muffeled shouts went to deaf ears as the devious woman smiled even more.

''You still don't understand.'' Miss Allsunday made few handmotions and another barrage of arms grabben Pell and restrained him, again. ''Power. Speed. When facing me, they mean nothing.'' She said and walked over to Pell where the woman swung her arm. ''Clutch.'' There was a cracking noise that came from Pells back that sounded like his spine groaning in protest. The man cried in pain as he fell down when his restrains vanished.

''PELL!''

Miss Allsunday smirked and looked at the other two opponents. ''This darling was the strongest warrior in the Kingdom?'' She said and walked towards the shocked Vivi and the growling Eligos. ''Well then, shall we go?''

''This isn't a happening.'' Vivi denied it to herself.

_''**Dammit Vivi, cut the restrains!**''_ Eligos furiously though. The demon pirates jaws were clutched together and the only thing he could do now was watch the tradegy as he got even more angrier.

''The Boss and your nakama awaits you two. In a cage at Rain Dinners.''

[Rain Dinners, With Ezekiel & Angel, Ezekiels POV]

*DING!*

The elevator we were in finally arrived at the bottom section of the pyramide. Or so i though as i gazed at the tunnel like corridor. The good thing about it, no guards. Bad? Surveillance cameras. Lots of them

''Ookkay... now what?'' I asked Angel who kept looking at me and back to the cameras.

_''The hell your asking me. I don't even know what so bad about those things?''_ Angel snapped at me. Rolling my eyes at her, i looked up as an idea came to me. There was a trapdoor above us and i decided to change my direction to the elevator shaft up ahead. With a little usage of Chakra, i was standing on top of the elevator and scratched my head. _''What now?''_

''Let me think, let me think...'' I mused and saw an airvent to the right of us. ''Ah-ha, an airvent. Good thing i used to watch Die Hard like, 100 times.'' Cheering i crouched and went inside the airvent. ''Now were making progress, i think.''

_''Where do you think the scary woman went?''_ Angel asked me about Robin that mysteriously vanished somewhere.

''Maybe theres a secret tunnel here leading to different parts of Rainbase, or so i'd like to think.'' I said and saw something crawling in the corner. Speeding up, i was greeted by the sight of dozens of bugs scurrying around. ''BUGS!'' I paniced and was about to trash around.

_''Hold your horses! I'll eat them.''_ Angel informed me and started to chomp the bugs with her tongue whipping like a... whip. I was watching the event with wide-eyes and grinned when she finished.

''I wish i had that kind of appendage.'' I said and felt Angel climb on my back. ''These bugs think they own the place, eh?. Well theres going to be restructuring around here.'' Looking around, i saw that Angel missed a bug. ''And theres another one.'' I narrowed my eyes and held Angel still as i chased after the bug. The little bug saw me and scrurried away. ''Keep running you little bastard. I see you, thinking you gonna escape? Well your wro-!''

*CRASH!*

Suddenly the airvent gave up with me & Angel crashing on to a room. Standing up from my spot, i looked around and was it was a small kitchen cafeteria with few boxes decorating the place. Lucky for me, the place was empty for possible hostile encounters.

_''You certainly know how to inform people of your location.''_

''Well i'm sorry Miss Central Bearded Dragon, but i have my reasons for messing around.'' I grumbled and took the room in. ''Okay what do we have here...'' After searching around a bit, i stumbled in front of a bag full of beef jerky. ''Like i said it before, someone really and i mean REALLY loves me.''

I sat on a nearby box with Angel sitting on my lap, staring at me munching the jerky away. With a gulp, i took another one and threw it in the air. She caught it and ate it with no diffuculty on her part. Our short break lasted for about 3 minutes until i stood up and stretched a bit.

_''I think it would be wise to go back to the vent.''_ Angel looked at the airvent with disgust. _''Don't you humans know how to keep places clean?''_

''Don't worry,'' I said and hoisted myself to the vent where i pulled both of inside it. ''We'll leave a complaint note somewhere around here.'' After crawling for few minutes, i came to a stop when i heard voices come from afar. Speeding up to see what it was. I peered my head and saw the man in the suit who was now pushing a cart full of berri signed bags.

''The usual?'' The other man with the suit said in that secret service style that i found was pretty funny.

''The usual.''

Nodding, the other man with the funny voice moved aside and let my target move ahead. Narrowing my eyes, i tried to come up with decent plan.

''The hell with it.'' I groaned and got out of the airvent. From there, i grabbed the guards head and knocked him out with a Genjutsu.

_''Okey, what was that?''_ Angel asked me and tail whipped the back of my head.

''There was something i didn't like about him.'' I said and picked the guard up. ''Anyways, our target is getting away and i'd like to do this fast. This isn't anything like in Ocean 13 or 14 and i used to love the movies. Though this could be considered as: Ocean 1 and animal''

_''Urg, just get a move on it.''_

Shrugging, me and Angel tried to tail the man with the money cart. Thankfully for me, he wasn't that much far from us and all i had to do was walk upside down on the huge corridor. There were lots of guards strolling around a good distance away from the previously knocked out guard that i threw in what i thought was the janitors closet.

Dropping down where i thought was a safe place to walk and not defy gravity. I looked forward and groaned more at the interior in the corridor.

''I swear, can this place get anymore depressing? Dark green... yuck.'' I murmured. Walking a bit more and turning around a corner, i saw the man again. This time he was he pushed some buttons on the sidewall and continued walking away. I was about to follow him when Angel stopped me.

_''Wait, theres something weird around in here.''_

Just as she said that, some laser beams came around and made a wall of red lines in front of us.

''Okay, now their getting serious.'' I deadpanned. ''So what are these lasers? Alarm lasers? Death beams? I think i go with the former, but i wouldn't be surprised at all if the whole place comes crasing down on us the second i touch it.''

I heard Angel sigh at me. _''Your being a pessimist, i'll handle this. Just sit back and watch.''_

''Can do.'' I cheered as i saw the lizard twist and turn around the lasers. I was wishing i could be a animal now and came up with a plan to see if i could transform into one. ''Later.'' I reminded myself.

_''Meatchunk! Whats the number on these?''_ Angel shouted near the keypad.

''4593.'' I said and thought that the place here had the same code system as the elevator. A loud and quick beeping sound got me out of my short thoughts.

_''It says here that it wasn't the right one and that i have two more tries.''_

''Well screw me.'' I rubbed my temple in agony. ''Try...9825.'' I said and thought that the keypad to my Iphone works.

*BEEP!*

_''Wrong! One more!''_ Angel shouted in frustation.

''Okey okey, try 1234!'' I shouted back. Imagine my surprise when the lasers died down after a small ringing noise came from the keypad. ''Hahaa!'' I cheered. ''Knowing this code makes me a threat to this place.''

_''I still say that was luck you had and not a divine intervention.''_

''I see someones jealous.'' I said and picked Angel up from the ground. Setting her on my shoulder, the lizard licked my cheek.

_''I guess i am.''_

''Why's that?''

_''You already have a loved one.''_

I stopped my walk and gave her a look. ''You don't mean...''

_''The orange-haired harlot, i can see you care for her.''_

''Okay, that's totally uncalled for. We are NOT a couple.'' I protested and was about to panic from the implication. ''I care all of you a lot and- what was that?'' I said and heard noises coming towards us. Panicing a bit, i looked around and came with a plan of being stuck in the ceiling. Moments later, the guard that i was following came and walked back to where he came from.

''Weird.'' He began and scratched his head. ''I thought i had the security active.'' Okay i was really panicing now. If the guard gets suspicious, i'd have to take him out. And i don't mean on dates. ''Whatever, the system around here never worked before so why now.''

Inwarly sighing, the guard walked off and turned the lasers back on without noticing us.

''That was a little bit too close for comfort.'' I wiped the imaginery sweat from my forehead. This time i decided to just run where the man left the cart and stopped at the next corner i turned. There were two more guards standing in front of a huge vault. ''Angel, get inside my robe. This might get a bit uncomfortable.''

My scaly companion nodded and crawled inside my robes and squirmed in there. _''She must be angry about something if she's not her usually careful self of not slashing me.''_ I thought and put a Henge on myself to look like the previous guard. Strutting forward like a professional like i was. I saw the two guards were looking at me in suspicious.

''Halt! State you business here.'' A dirty blond-haired man walked in front of me while the other brown-haired one studied me.

I made a small smile and stood straight. ''Yes, i was here about a minute ago and was the guy assigned to deposite the money. It just occured to me that i may forgot something that belonged to me in the cart and i'd like to get it back.''

''What makes you think we'll let you in again? You promised us our money so you could smuggle some cash around for us.''

_''Are they serious? Stealing under the Big Boss nose was just asking for trouble.''_ I thought and tried to come up with a excuse. ''Sorry about that, its just that this whole weeks been stressful and i tend to forget the important stuff of my regimen.''

''So your saying that you forgot about our agreement?''

_''Shit! Me and my skill to mindfuck people. Speaking of mindfucking...''_ I thought and flashed my Sharingans at his eyes. Few seconds later his eyes went blank as he kept looking at me the mouth hanging open. ''Of course not, were best friend for life. Total badasses and soon to be richer than the King of Arabasta himself.'' I boasted and saw the hypnotised man nod and look at his buddy.

''Open the vault.'' The guy with the dirty blond-hair said in monotone that unnerved his partner. Not one to argue with his superior, which i though he was, hastily slotted a keycard and pushed even more numbers than the normal 4-digits i previously saw. With that, the vault opened as i stepped inside.

''Don't bother waiting for me. I also forgot where the item i was looking for disappeared.'' I waved at the two guards with a smile.

''Yeah, yeah. Just don't take too long.'' The brown-haired one said with a shrug and closed the vault behind me. Hearing the vault completely closed, i dispelled the Henge and looked infront of me. Instantly drool escaped my mouth as i gazed at the amount of berries begging me to steal them. Or confiscate them, depends on the point of view.

_''This is what we were looking for? All this trouble?''_ Angel got out of my robe and growled at me.

''Aye, imma pirate. Booties are something a pirate like meself dig.'' I tried to put on my pirate facade on, but after testing a bit i gave it a rest and walked closer. ''Where the hell did Croco-teme get all these colds and gems? I bet they have gnomes under this whole pyramide working for him.''

_''Gnomes?''_ Angel asked me as i fed some leftover beef jerky to her.

''You know. Shorter than you,big white beard and pointy red hat. I want a gnome...'' I grumbled. ''I'd put my gnome in a cage and feed him granola. I think they eat that.'' I unrolled my scroll from my back and set it on the floor where the treasures surronded us. ''Goddammit, i'm out of ink.'' I grumbled again and felt that was something i did alot today. That and groaning, God i hate groaning.

_''Is there a problem?''_

''Angel sweety, if there would be a problem, i would've gone in a killing sphree and slaughtered everyone in this establishment.'' I said and took the black orb from my pouch. ''Guess the moment of truth is finally here. See this? This is why you have to defy your terms, if you don't, people die.''

After my short monologue, i set Angel down and unrolled my sleeves. Exposing my wonder-tattoos to the world again, i grabbed the Ink-Globe in my left hand. A feeling of pressure was weightening me for a second the the orb started to vibrate. I felt the orb sinking into my palm and with that the vibration stopped. Blinking, i looked at my tattoo and saw the spiral-mark on my elbow slowly spinning.

_''Care to explain?'' _Angel asked me with worry in her voice as she stated to sniff my arm.

''The old man said that this is supposed to happen so i can use these Power Fragments to my whims.'' I explained. ''That and other things i tuned out. Damn old man, really, you don't need a physics degree to grasp the consept. All you need is a lot of time and careful explaining. I already have a mild case of ADD!''

_''You do?''_

''Dunno, the Doctors suspected it for awhile and i never got the results.'' I shrugged and saw that the spiral-mark stopped spinning after good 10 minutes. Meaning that it stopped progressing the stuff on my body. ''Alrighty then, lets see if this worked like in the movies.'' I crouched down next to my scroll and tried to consentrate on this new substance wiggling inside me. After a couple of minutes of statying still, i found it and felt like heaving over. Seconds later my mouth felt like it was on fire and i pulled my finger there to see what was in there. I was surprised to see a small blotch of ink in my finger and spat a glob of it aside. Seeing the black liquid there made me a tad bit nervous. ''I hope its not poisonous.''

_''You got something on your...''_ Angel said and motioned to her jaw. Nodding, i wiped the ink that escaped my mouth and stared at it.

''Good thing: I have ink now. Bad: I miss a brush.'' I said and decided to use my finger as a makeshift pencil/brush. This time it took me 20 minutes of my time inside the vault to finish the Storage scroll and truth be told: i was pretty excited to see how it'll work out. I've resently took a major intrest in Fuuinjutsu as it was a dying art and not much was known about it. ''I better get to work. Am i to assume that you'll help me here?''

_''Might as well, got nothing better to do.''_ Angel said and burped again. _''I really need to look after my diet.''_

Shrugging, i looked at scroll desing once more and got to work. And what better way to do that by singing.

''I've got a lovely bunch of treasures here, do do doo do~

here they are sitting in a bunch, doo doo do~

one bag, two bag, all as big as your head!~

give the a toss, like a boss, that's how Ezekiel wins!~''

_''That...'' _Angel begun with a deadpanned expression. _''...was horrible.''_

''You know what, i don't have to take that from anyone. I'm my own man!'' I said and tried to come up with a decent guess of the amount i have now in my scroll. ''I think we have about 50 million on us and we could put maybe some more gold and jewels in now.''

_''Hey! I found something. Can i eat this?''_

''Gimme dat,'' I said and took the object from Angels mouts with narrowed eyes. ''God, your worse than Luffy.'' Looking at the object in my hand, i raised my eyebrow. ''Den Den Mushi? Neat.''

[Meanwhile with the others, General POV]

''**Mrrghg mghrh mmmgh!**'' Eligos cursed beneath the hands that covered his mouth. If you could put his emotions into words; it would be rage mixed with utter hatred towards woman with the Hana Hana Fruit-uset. This was not how his Boss would act, but there was one problem with that. He wasn't the Boss. He considers himself of his own Boss until his time in this existence vanishes and becomes a memory for his Boss to forget. So you could say that he had a bad day with a bad start.

''I think it would be wise to behave in front of Mr. Zero, Mr. Vane.'' Miss Allsunday sweet smiled at him, but it was mostly out of amusement at his behaviour.

''Ezeki-'' Vivi began but a quick glare from the Straw Hat Pirate corrected her of the misused name. ''Eligos-san, calm down. We don't need to cause anymore trouble now.'' She tried to ease the anger of her friend. This was not the usual Ezekiel she's used to and pegged this as one of his weird quirks.

They continued walking towards one of the buildings in Rainbase where a underground passage was in front of them. Eligos rolled his eyes and walked next to Vivi to ensure her safety. As it was made clear by his Boss, even though Eligos hates the bastard and blamed him about this whole ordeal.

Walking for awhile now, Eligos was on the verge of outright slaughter someone. Just like his Boss, Eligos also hates depressing colors such as these dark green corridors. The smug smile of the retched woman was getting on his last drop of patient, but decided to see and put his own two cents on the Baroque Works leader.

''CROCODILE!'' Vivi shouted after the huge door was opened to reveal the Shichibukai in a table of fancy cuisines.

''Vivi!'' Luffy, Usopp and Nami shouted from their Kairoseki cages.

''Onii-sama!'' Shelly also shouted at the restrained Eligos who narrowed his eyes at her. The other Straw Hats including the now awake Zoro looked at him.

''You got caught? Thats weak.'' Zoro shrugged.

''**Hrrgh hnngh mrngh mghnrnng!**''

''What was that? I can't hear you over those hands covering your mouth.''

''**I said: I will rip your head off and-Mrhghr ghrmg hrghn!**'' Eligos shouted in rage when the restrains loosened a bit, startling the others except the pirates who hung up their heads.

''Not this again.''

''This happened before?'' Smoker inquired.

''Its his stupid way of having fun.'' Nami groaned and rubbed her temple.

Crocodile ignored the whole act and held his arms wide in a welcoming manner. ''Welcome, Princess of Arabasta, Vivi. You've done an admirable job slipping through the hands of our assassins.''

''I'd come to you. No matter where you'd hide! I'd come to see you die! Mr. Zero! If you had never set foot in my country, Arabasta would have been at peace!'' Vivi yelled and charged forward at Crocodile who kept that arrogant smirk of his. She threw that jewel-weapon-thing at Crocodiles head where it burst into sand dust with the rest of his body. The sand gathered behind her as Crocodile grabbed her throat and whispered at her ear.

''Satisfied? Being from this country, you should already know that i have the ability of the Suna Suna Fruit (Sand Sand Fruit). Tell me, shall i turn you into a mummy?''

''H-He's a Sandman!'' Usopp and surprisingly Shelly yelled in fear and awe respectively.

''HEY YOU! Leave Vivi alone! I'm gonna kick your ass!''

_''**No one cares about me...**'' _Eligos thought and tried once more get the sprouted hand off him. Seeing the futile struggle, Miss Allsunday made another handmotion and sent Eligos forward down the stairs. Cursing again, Eligos rightened his body in mid-air and landed on the table where he was again restrained on second chair next to Vivi.

''Glad you could join us.'' Crocodile smirked at Eligos. ''It's time to start the party. Am i right, Miss Allsunday?'' The mentioned woman gave a short nod while the other occupants of the underground office with the prison where confused.

''That's right.'' She then took out a clock and smiled again. ''It's past 12. Operation Utopia has officially commenced.''

''Operation Utopia?'' Nami guestioned followed closely by Luffy.

''What's that?''

Crocodile smirked again which then turned into him laughing hysterically. Regaining of his own twisted humor, he gave a cold look at the Princess. ''It is this pathetic Kingdom that will die, Miss Wednesday. This blind love for Arabasta will be the very thing that consigns it to oblivion. Struggling and writhing between life and death, the people of this country will be enveloped in eternal darkness. Operation Utopia... has begun.''

**[To Be Continued]**

I'm not really proud of the way the break-in worked out, but here you go.

I also wanted to add more personality in the clones, so there will be more of those in the future. The ironic thing about the name i picked for the clone is that it belongs to a demon from the Ars Goetia in The Lesser Key of Solomon. Why i picked is because i was bored in school and that was the first thing i noticed once i opened my history book.

Just so you know: Ezekiel means in Arabic Hazqiyal, 'God will strenghten'. Or to lesser degree 'to fasten upon' or 'strong'. Vane means a weathercane and if don't know what it means, google it.

I thought it sounds cool; Strong Vane. Showing direction since the 9th century.

Why there's so much money in the vault? That remains to be seen. It might be used to buy something cool or something else.

Atleast now you know what the tattoo does to people and it will be explained later when Ezekiels mysterious opponent arrives. The next chapter will be a quick one since i'm going to jump over the evil Croco-temes monologue about the Utopia. If you don't know what the plan is, watch it online from episode 106 forward.

Once this story reaches the 100 reviews limit, i'll start making the movies with extra twist. So keep reviewing, yes you. If you don't, i know where you sleep tonight...

- Bai bai!


	35. Breaking out

**Chapter 35: Breaking-out.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Baroque Works Presidential Office, General POV]

''Hahahahahahahahaaa!'' Crocodile laughed with glee after he told his ingenious plan to his prisoners. There were various expressions around going from anger to fear and disgust.

''What an evil plan...'' Nami trailed off.

''What do you think? Like my plan? The plan that you helped set up is now in full bloom. If you listen carefully, i bet you can hear them shouting throughout Arabasta. And their one driving thought: 'We will protect Arabasta... We will protect Arabasta...'''

''STOP IT!'' Vivi shouted. ''How can you be so inhuman!''

Crocodile kept chuckling at her. ''Doesn't it move you to tears? The love for the country is what will destroy the country.''

''**HRGNGM GHRM!**'' Eligos shouted and was trashing around on his chair. Sighing, Miss Allsunday let go of the mouth restrains with a wave of her hand. ''**...damn coward! I bet you weren't even breastfed like the rest of those rat-fuck meatheads i've been encountering! Let the guy with the straw hat fight and we'll see that your sorry ass breaks through a underground mauseleoum into the freaking sky!**''

''YEEEEAH!'' Luffy also shouted and tried to squeeze his head through the Kairoseki bars.

''Onii-sama is in his crew?'' Shelly pointed at the struggling Luffy and shook her head. ''I would've expected more.''

''**How many times i have to tell you! Your. Not. My. Sister!**''

Shelly took that as an insult and narrowed her amethys eyes. ''What did you do to my brother?'' She asked the Straw Hat crew.

''What?'' Zoro asked after his conversation with Smoker.

''He obviously suffers a memory loss if he doesn't remember me.'' Shelly crossed her arms over her chest.

''**You know what? Fuck you, i don't care about this anymore. I've endured enough shit today that it is not funny anymore!**'' Eligos shouted at her.

*Crash!*

All head whipped at Vivi who fell down from her chair. She had her hands tied together by ropes and was squirming out of the place.

''What are you doing, Miss Wednesday?'' Crocodile inquired.

''I'll stop them. I'll stop them! I can still make it in time! Alubarna is directly east of here! If i can get to Alubarna before the Rebel Army does then i can stop them!'' Vivi defiantly shouted at him. ''No matter what, i will not allow your plan to succeed!''

''What a coincidence. We were just about to head for Alubarna as well. If you'd like to tag along, you're welcome to. Or, will you save them instead?'' Crocodile smirked toward the caged pirates and marines. He then took out the prison key and mockingly held it in front of them.

''That's...'' Vivi began.

''The key for this cage! Give me that!'' Luffy shouted and made another attempt to squeeze through the cell. Crocodile ignored him and pushed a level in the floor where a trapdoor opened.

''The floor opened!''

''**Thats classic James Bond-villain move! Rip-off!**'' Eligos shouted but lost his cool when the prison key fell down from the trapdoor. Crocodile continued mocking the Princess saying that she has might have a chance of stopping the attack made on Alubarna or save her nakamas.

''The Bananawani!'' Vivi paniced and looked at the giant reptile with the banana growing our of his head. The beast looked at the prison key and swallowed in one go. ''Aaah!''

''Oi, what's wrong, Vivi?'' Luffy asked.

''One of those beasts swallowed the key!''

''What! Go after him and make him spit it out!''

''**I could if _someone_ here releases me from my restrains.**'' Eligos said and just like that, the hands sprouted away. Confusing him as the woman with said abilites gave him a faint, barely noticeable smile. ''Thehell.**..**?'' He asked and turned the voice changing device off.

''There's really no need to restrain you. Seeing that your not even the real one and we don't have much time.'' Miss Allsunday said.

Eligos grinned at her direction. ''Wow, i'm impressed. What gave me off? Surely it wasn't my behaviour.''

''All in their time.'' She said, making Eligos narrow his eyes and made a mental note of the revelation. It could be a deceiving tactic or just plain luck of her that his Boss needs to know.

''Wait,'' Usopp began and looked at Eligos. ''Your not the real one?''

''Nah, Boss is doing something to piss people off'' Eligos said and looked at Miss Allsunday. ''There's a letter from him to Croco-teme.''

''Oh, that.'' She remembered and took the small letter from her coat. Unfolding it, she read it and handed it to Crocodile who read it aloud.

''-Dear Croco-teme.-'' Here the reader scowled with the prisoners chuckling. ''-By the time you read this your casino will be empty from its valuables. So no hard feelings here, ne? Sincerely; Mr. Snugglebottom.-'' That said, Crocodile turned the letter into dust and glared at the clone. ''Who is this Boss of yours?''

''He likes to keep himself out of public.'' Eligos shrugged at Crocodile charged at him. Rolling out of the way, he jumped again to avoid a hook intended to pierce his head. He was now suspending upside down on the ceiling with the Sharingan slowly turning coal black.

''Whatever,'' Crocodile began. ''Your friends will die in here for it. The Bananawani who ate the prison key is in one of the many hundreds swimming here.''

''What!'' Luffy shouted.

''What a prick!'' Nami added her own insult.

''Oi! Can't you break the damn cage or something!'' Zoro shouted and held his swords in his sides.

''I'm not the real one and i'm already low on Chakra!'' Eligos shouted back and dropped from the ceiling.

Crocodile ingnored his target and snapped his fingers where a door opened. ''Well then, it's about time we were on our way. One more thing, this room will self-destruct in exactly one hour. This secret basement i used as the Baroque Works Presidential Office is of no further use to me. Water will flood into this room and it will sink to the bottom of Rainbase Lake. One million innocent people? Or five measly pirates with no future ahead of them? One or the other. The chances of saving either are slim at best. You're betting with your feeling, Miss Wednesday. Do you like gambling?''

Crocodile began to tell them about his part of the destruction of Yuba. He ridiculed the old man digging the dead oasis and him sending sandstorms there to utterly destroy the place.

''You...'' Luffys anger began to rose. ''...did that?''

Even Vivi had the same expression. ''You... i will kill you!'' With that she began to charge at the evil pairs exposed backs with her jewel-weapon. She didn't get far when Eligos stopped herfrom going further.

''Calm down, this country doesn't need a dead Princess. We'll get out of here.'' Eligos said to the struggling Vivi in his arms. She started trashing more when the water started to spew from the trapdoors.

''Hey! The water's starting to flood in!'' Usopp stated the obvious.

''Brilliant deduction Sherlock!'' Eligos said back while trying to shut the trapdoor spewing water. ''At this rate, the room's going to be completely filled with water.'' Just then more water came and Eligos rage just went up a few notch. ''Okay, this is getting ridiculous.''

''Vivi! Ezeki-!''

''Its Eligos, Usopp.''

''Whatever! Help us! Do something! I don't want this to be the last hour of my life!''

''Quit panicking, you moron.'' Nami said.

''My country or my nakama!'' Vivi questioned Crocodiles back. ''You have no intention of letting me have either, do you? You'll have me killed even before i get to Alubarna. I know that nothing will cease unless i kill you!'' She was now crying and and gripped her robe. ''You know nothing. Not about the people of this country. Not about their history. Not about their lives. You don't know anything!'' Vivi shouted at Crocodile who kept smirking.

''Vivi! Ezekiel! DO SOMETHING! GET US OUT OF HERE!'' Luffy shouted.

''Its Eli- why am i doing this?'' Eligos palmed his face.

''Luffy-san...''

''Ah, are you already begging for you life, Straw Hat Luffy? That's right, i guess everyone fears death.'' Crocodile turned around to see the scene.

''If we die here. WHO'S GONNA KICK HIS ASS!''

''Don't get ahead of yourself, little man.''

''You're the little one.'' Luffy replied angrily at Crocodile who snapped his fingers again. Another trapdoor, this one bigger than the previous ones, opened where a Bananawani emerged from it and growled at them.

''If you're going to abandon them, now's the time, Miss Wednesday. You want to stop the rebellion after all.''

''What with you and crocodiles.'' Eligos deadpanned at the huge banana-headed reptile.

''Yosh! Beat it up you two!'' Luffy cheered at them.

''Don't be riduculous! That thing's too big!'' Usopp shrieked. ''Eligos, take it out!''

''What part of low Charka reserves you don't understand!''

''Your a clone!'' Shelly looked at Eligos in shock. ''I thought they would dispel after so long!''

''I think you should consult this with the Boss.'' Eligos pointed out.

''Look! Outside the window!'' Usopp shouted. ''They're all lining up to feed on us! They think we're their food! In an hour we're all going to be in their stomachs!''

One of the Bananawanis opened its mouth on Vivi and Eligos where it lunged at them. Grabbing Vivi, Eligos jumped far back towards the stairs where the reptile set its sights.

''Fast ugly fuckers.'' Eligos grumbled and dodged another bite assault. This time the Bananawani took a good chunk of the stairs leaving a scared Vivi and deadpanned Eligos. ''Where's the Boss when you need him.''

''It bit off the staircase with one bite! Those jaws are dangerous!'' Usopp shouted.

The Bananawani made another charge with its tail which was too close for comfort. ''Vivi! I have a plan!'' Eligos shouted and got the Princess attention. ''I can't dispel myself now so you'll have to do it for me!''

''What? How?''

''Hit me! Do something to inflict damage on me. Something is distrupting my connection with the Boss.''

''Are you crazy! You'll leave Vivi to fend for herself!'' Nami shouted at him.

Ignoring the navigator, Eligos turned to Vivi. ''Listen, i know that this is dangerous and it might get you killed, but you have to hang in there. Give him about 10 minutes and we'll get out of here, kay?''

Vivi was hesitant as she has to 'kill' her friend, even though this one acted like a jerk. Nodding, they both dodged the reptiles attack as Vivi prepared her slashers. With one swing, she hit him straight between the eyes where Eligos vanished in a column of white smoke.

''That idiot!''

[Rain Dinners Vault, Ezekiels POV]

''73 million berri worth of loot, not much for a average casino, but it'll do.'' I grinned to myself as me and Angel cleaned the place empty. The new modified Storage scroll stores much more than the regular ink i've been using till now. Strapping the scroll in my back, i secured it and grinned at Angel who climbed on my back.

Suddenly a memory of my clone came crashing towards my brain as i gripped my head in pain from the headache.

_''Hey, you alright?''_ Angel asked me and i could detect the worry in her voice.

I closed my eyes and the event my clone lived flashed before me. Even the hate he's been building up was making my exposed tattoo arm burn. Calming myself down till the last memory of him assuring Vivi came. I looked at the door and decided to flip off my stealh-mode of the day.

''Angel, new assingment. We'll get to the Presidential office by anymeans necessary so i need you to use your nose or snout and scent for the others.''

I saw Angel nod at me and i walked towards the vault and knocked it with my knuckles. Seconds later, the guy with the brown hair opened it. His face was at first marred with confusion when i sucker punched his ugly mutt. The other corrupted guard turned towards us, but i ran forward and clotheslined him to the ground.

Turning around the corner, i saw the red laser wall in front of us and threw a shuriken at it to see how fatal it was. Sighing in small relief that it wasn't lethal. I went past it as the beeping alarms went off and the guards were running around the place. Jumping, i went to the ceiling and ran upside down there.

''Look! Up there!'' A random guard shouted and i looked up/down at him where i saw him pointing his fingers at us. Groaning, i upped my speed as i saw Angel sniffing the air. Even though her nose wasn't on par with Daxters, it was still quite useful as my own nose was as useless as humans.

_''Right!''_ Angel directed me towards the seperating corridor. _''I can smell your mates scent.''_

''She's not my mate!'' I yelled at her implication that the evil woman was my mate. ''Anyone who conquers my bed is on the list of bad people!''

_''Whatever.''_ Angel deadpanned. _''Go through that wall where that airvent is.''_

I took my Kunai and Explosive tag where i wrapped them together. Throwing the projectile that embedded itself on the wall. I made a quick hand seals that detonated the wall where i was greeted by 5 guards.

''Good job, Angel.'' I deadpanned at my companion and took out Triton from its sheat.

''Intruder! Get him!'' A guard shouted and pulled out a baton. Grinning at the weak attempt to subdue me, i used a Shunshin with the Tanto and the Sharingan. As i reappeared behind them, they all flew upwards and hit the floor in pain.

''That was straight from Zoro's handbook. I'm awesome.'' I grinned at my Tanto who pulsed in reply.

_''They should be straight in front of us, but i don't see a way to get there.''_

I looked around and saw that we were in another corridor with pipelines above us. ''Okay, where's water, there's the pond and where's the pond there's-'' A tail whip got out of my mumblings as Angel gave me a growl. ''I get it, i get it! I'm moving.'' I said and took a left turn, following the pipelines through the corridor. I was running with a good speed on my part and came to a stop when i found a drain below me. It was enough for me and Angel to squeeze in so i thought what the hell.

Opening the bars, i stepped inside and held back from retching. Angel was much more composed, but i could see that she was struggling not vomit as it was unlady like.

_''Do you humans know how to clean yourselves?''_

''Could you stop with that human thing... you sound like Arlong. If he'd be alive right now, i'd be tempted to introduce you to.'' I grumbled at her and kept walking where the water was going. ''Its like they say: Go with the flow.''

_''Did you hear that?'' _Angel asked me and looked behind us.

I stopped and looked behind us too. There was a sound of flushing that was getting stronger. ''I have a baaad feeling about this.''

*FLOOOOSH!*

A huge wave of water was coming towards us. Our eyes flew out of their sockets in surprise as the wave knocked and carried the both of us through the sewer. The whole ride took about 30 seconds until we found ourselves in a very large pool. Gazing around, i saw that those reptiles were in a neat line towards the Presidential Office where Luffy and the rest were caged in. I think it was rightful for me to panic as two of them noticed us and hastily started to search for an exit before either of us gets eaten alive or drown _and_ get eaten, dead.

A tap to my shoulder alerted me and i saw Angel who pointed above us at a small opening that was sucking the water in. Just as i saw it, the reptiles, 2 of them made a mad dash towards us as a quick meal. I tried to swim towards the opening, but the Bananawanis were fast for me to aproach it in time.

Using Chakra to my feet, i propelled myself forward and managed to dodge one of them. The other was directly in front of me and got pummeled further away. I was in pain from the attack and Arlongs monologue about fishmen superiority is starting to surface back. What made my blood ran cold was that me and Angel got seperated and she didn't know how to swim. The Bananawani that missed us first saw Angel and charged at my crime partner.

_''Like hell you will!''_ I thought and grabbed its tail. That got the reptiles attention as it tried to rid me off him. I got an idea as i pumped more Chakra to my feet and stuck on its scaly body. Running on top of him before he got to Angel. I sped up and used its snout to spring board myself to her. The Bananawani looked at the both of us hungrily and made another attack. It was going coming at us in slow-motion as i began to think of a plan.

_''Alright, think Ezekiel. Can't use anything with Angel here and i've already wasted enough on those Chakra platfroms i made just seconds ago. Maybe if i... that would work.''_ I thought and consentrated a large amount of Chakra in my abdomen where i could see it swelling up a bit. The bulgeon hastly went up and i could feel my mouth burning up. With the rest of oxygen i had in my lungs. I spewed the rest ink that was supposed to be stored in my body. The act served its purpose of blinding the predators in a black cloud as i took Angel with me and swam away to the opening.

For the next minute, we were both in a human-sized pipe again and smashed around the it. Just then it took us upwards and i could feel the speed picking up on us. Gazing up with Angel in my arms, i saw something green blocking our path. Narrowing my eyes, i grabbed my Katanas sheat and closed my eyes in consentration. When i was close to the green wall. I opened my now Sharingan eyes and made a huge slash at the wall.

''What the hell!'' A voice that sounded familiar shouted and i saw that the wall was infact the Bananawani i now slashed in half. I dropped down from mid-air and began to fill my lungs with precious oxygen. ''Oi! Shitty magician! You took my prey and my cool entrance!'' It was Sanji shouting at me, but i was occupied as i continued coughing the water off my lungs.

''Ezekiel-san!'' Vivi shouted in worry and crouched down next to me. ''Are you alright!''

''I'm alright, but Angel here seemes to be knocked out. Related to iguanas my ass.'' I grumbled and got a tail swipe from the 'unconscious' Angel.

_''One day... i'm going to kill you.''_ Angel stirred a bit, but i saw she was a bit weak at what happened. I smiled at her and gently set her on my shoulder. Patting my scroll, i saw it wasn't damp at all and took it out. Seeing that everything was alright and sighing in relief. I set it back and made a mental list to examine the paper sometimes later.

''Prince-san! Snugglebottom-san!'' Luffy and Usopp cheered.

''Wait? How do you guy know that's my alias?'' I inquired and walked closer to the cage.

''That was you?'' They asked again. There were 6, including me whose faces splashed against the water that was slowly filling the room. I then looked at the other female prisoner and let out a sigh.

''You again.''

''Thats right! I want a rematch!'' Shelly shouted at me.

''I'll decide on that. Now i want you to answer to my questions.'' I told her with a stare that put her off guard since i still had my Sharingans on. ''Your element is an Earth one, right?''

''Yes.''

''And your Chakra control is in average, right?''

''Yes.''

''Ever heard of the Dochu Eigyo no Jutsu?(Underground Fish Projection Jutsu)'' I said and saw her tense. Palming her face, she set her hands in a Snake seal and made contact with the floor. Seconds later she merged with the ground and reappered beside me on the other side of the cage. The room was silent for a good minute until i bodded her head upside down.

''WHY DIDN'T YOU DO THAT EARLIER!'' We all yelled at her as she rubbed the bumb on her head that i inflicted.

''God, Shelly.'' Smoker facepalmed and i had a distinct feeling that this is how she usually behaves in the Marines.

''Wait,'' Shelly began and pointed an accusing finger at me. ''How did you know that this on even exist!''

I rolled my eyes at her. Like i'll tell her that i have a book about Ninjutsus and other crappy noted i've made BEFORE landing here in this, nerd paradise.

''Hi-mit-su. Its a secret of mine.'' I bluntly replied and walked towards Sanji. ''Where have you been all this time? And where's Tony-kun?'' Sanji then told me his ingenious plan to 'rescue' us and using Chopper as a decoy against Crocodile.

''Cool huh?'' Sanji grinned victoriously at me.

''Pyh, i'd like to see you try to torture people for information, infiltrate this establishment without no one knowing you were in here, bypass the security, avoid getting caught by said security, bypass yet another security measurement with sensor beams, deceive the 'special' guards near the vault, rob this place clean, have a clone send you a message that were in deep shit, cause a major havoc, get lost in a sewer where i was nearly drown in by the water that washed us next to those damn bananas, getting attacked by those bananas and finally getting here where i'm surrounded by these idiots who nearly blew my cover AND got caught at the same time i got here. So yeah, good job Sanji.'' I complained at him. Another silence fell on us when Nami asked me a question.

''How much did you steal?''

I grinned and wagged my finger at the cage. ''Not tellin'~'' I saw she scowled at me, which i deftly shrugged and looked at the Bananawanis staring at us.

''Well, look at 'em all coming together.'' Sanji said with a frown plastered in his face. The guy was probably angry at me for stealing his show.

''Go, Ezekiel! Sanji! Beat 'em all up!'' Luffy cheered at us as i went through my mental list of Jutsus to use against those. I usually use Lightning base attacks for multiple opponents, but since we were surrounded with water, that was out of the guestion.

''No matter how big a bunch you are, just try and beat me, you shitty bananas.'' Sanji said and raised his leg high. ''Any shitheads rude enough to attack a lady need some table manners beaten into them.''

''Do we have time for this crap of yours.'' I deadpanned at Sanji.

''Take 'em out in one second! No, in an instant!'' Usopp shouted from his cage and if i'm right. The guys been scared the whole time.

''Take out the third one that just entered the room.'' Smoker said as i turned towards him with a raised brow. ''That growl. It's the same growl as the one that ate the key.'' I looked around and saw that they all were growling at us and deadpanned at him.

''I can't really tell...'' Luffy said with a funny face. Looking around, i saw the reptile that i sliced in half with his mouth wide open. Narrowing my eyes, i went over there and gave it a Chakra enhanced punch on its upper half.

''What are you doing! Its already dead!'' Nami shrieked at me as the Bananawani spewed out a human-sized white sphere.

''What the hell is that?'' Shelly asked me as i gave her a dumbfounded look.

''This is how human babies greet the world.'' I said with sarcarms in my voice.

''Really?''

''Yes, there's a man inside the egg.''

''Doru Doru Break!'' The egg said and out of it came Mr. 3, all dried up and skinny.

''WHAT!'' We all yelled.

''W-Water! Water all around me! Truly a miracle!'' Mr. 3 yelled.

''Oi! Isn't that guy?'' Zoro asked around as i had now a disbelieving look on me.

''The 3! 3! Its the three!'' Luffy shouted.

''Mr. 3!'' Vivi shouted and also had the same expression as me. ''Why were you inside the crocodile's stomach!''

''That's how i was born!'' Shelly asked me and i was seriously thinking that the girl's more related to Luffy than me.

''No, Shelly.'' I sighed and shook my head.

''I have revived! I thought i had reached the end!'' Mr. 3 said with vigor and started to laugh. ''Crocodile, if you intend to be rid of me, you will have to do better. Right as i was about to be devoured by this beast, i used all of my remaining strenght to make this Doru Doru Ball and...'' He rambled and was completely oblivious of me, Vivi, Sanji and Shelly. Looking down, he picked up the cage key that somehow appeared on the floor. ''What have we here?''

''THAT KEY! GIVE IT HERE!''

''YOU AGAIN!'' Mr. 3 shouted and looked at the key in his hand in thought. ''I have grasped the situation.''

''So you're Mr. 3?'' Sanji inquired as he walked behind him. Ignoring Sanji and Mr. 3 i jumped on the broken stairs next to Vivi who had a few bruises and a small cut on her forehead.

''Ezekiel-san.''

''You look like you've been trashed around this place.'' I stated bluntly and got a small chuckle out of her.

''You could say that.''

''So the brat can look after herself.'' I grinned and got a sigh of frustation from her.

''When will you stop with the whole 'Vivi's a kid'-gag, it's getting old.'' Much to her irritation, i ruffled her blue hair.

''You'll just have to prove yourself. That stunt you pulled wasn't enough.'' Looking down, i saw Mr. 3 throw the key to the cage in the middle of those banana-heads. Sighing, i sat down and patted Angel who was asleep at the moment. I knew then what will happed now and let them figure it out for themselves.

[5 minutes later]

_''Congratulation everyone for figuring out this dilemma.''_ I thought and carried Vivi to the rest of the crew. ''Let's just get out of here. The cook here has already caused enough tension as it is.''

''Yeah. The tunnel they went down earlier must lead to Alubarna.'' Nami refered to Crocodile and Robin.

''But there are still too many Bananawani in that passage!'' Vivi shouted.

''IS THAT ALL! WHERE'S THE REST OF YOU!'' We heard Luffy shout on top of the knocked out crocodiles. I also saw that Zoro was there to vent his anger on the 'poor' creatures.

''They won't be a problem.'' A dumbfounded Nami said followed by a nod from Usopp.

''And after i had so much trouble fighting one of them...'' Vivi turned around in shame.

''No, no. Their strenght is what's _really_ strange. It's not your fault.'' Usopp tried to reassure the downed Princess as i kept laughing at the damned beasts.

''Damn it! I can't get serious drenched in all this seawater!'' Luffy shouted as cracks began to appear on the walls and glass around us. Not much later the walls and windows gave up and a mass stream of water began to fill the room. ''THE WALLS BROKE!'' Luffy shouted the obvious.

''Idiot! You overdid it!'' Sanji shouted.

*CRASH!*

''Great! Even the passage broke apart!'' I shouted in frustation from the lack of exit here. My luck of course wouldn't let me have it easy as the rest of the water engulfed us and carried us away. Quickly checking that Angel and my scroll were with me, i looked down and grabbed Shelly who seemed to be knocked out cold from hitting her head on the Kairoseki cage.

Seeing that the others were fine, i sighed and water-walked to where the rest of the guys were with Shelly hoisted over my shoulder. Shaking my head to get rid of the water, i threw the girl off myself.

''Smoker! Shelly!'' Sanji turned towards me and Zoro who just emerged from the water and carried Smoker with him. ''Why'd you guys rescue the enemy?''

''Shut up! I didn't want to. This was the prefect chance to get rid of him.'' Zoro grumbled. The rest i already knew and made my way to the stirring Shelly.

''You awake?'' I asked tentatively so as to not scare her. She blinked twice and took a good look at her surroundings until her eyes landed on mine.

''You saved me?'' She asked and i dumbly nodded, not knowing what to say ''Why?''

''I have my reasons. One of them being that i might, notice the word, _might,_ see you as a rival of sorts. You haven't shown much of a promise here, but i have faith in you. I think.'' I mumbled the last part to myself and began to think why am i talking with her. ''Regardless, i have no idea _if _i'm your family since mine aren't exactly, here. So stop confusing me, its getting on my nerves.''

''Hai, Onii-sama.''

I gave her a glare at that and took my Kumo forehead protector. ''Here.''

She took the object and began to study it. ''Why are you giving me this?''

''It helped me with my problems and i think it would help you too. I want you to train and become the best you can be in your area. When that's done, seek for me and i might let you talk with me the next time we see.'' I said and gave her a stare. ''So, deal?'' And offered my hand for her to get up. She accepted it with a smile and tightly hugged me.

''I accept! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!'' She yelled in my ear and got the crew attention to us.

''Oi! Let go!'' I tried to pry her off. ''See, this is what we get for rescuing a Marine! People are all happy and hugging eachother like hippies!''

''Yosh! We're heading straight to Alubarna!''

''Where the hell is Crocodile!'' Usopp and Luffy shouted and saw that they finally got their conscious back. Luffy looked around in rage until he spotted Smoker and fully turned towards him. ''Smokey! You wanna fight!''

''GAH! SMOKER!'' Usopp shrieked.

''I promise to train very hard until we meet again, Onii-sama!'' Shelly still gripped my torso tightly as i was trying to regain my personal space back.

''As much as i hate to distrupt the sibling reunion, we need to go, now!'' Nami yelled and pried Shelly off me, much to my surprise as the look of jealousy reappeared and vanished. Maybe it was because i had the money i stole or she's...

''That way! Alubarna is straight to east from here!'' Vivi shouted and i whipped my head to see the guys running off.

''Luffy, hurry up!'' Zoro said as he stopped in mid-step. ''What are you doing?''

''This better not be a random stunt from Luffy.'' I added and looked at the Luffy/Smoker stare-off which ended with Luffy grinning from ear-to-ear.

''Y'know, i don't hate you!'' Luffy said and made his unique laugter that made Smoker blush in rage. The Smokeman was about to swung the jutte at Luffy.

''Get out of here, NOW!''

''AAAAHH!'' Luffy screamed and ran away in zig-zag through the street. Me and Zoro shared a grin and ran away from the enraged Smoker.

''Don't forget your promise, Onii-sama!'' Shelly shouted as i nearly lost my footing there.

''So _now_ she's your sister?'' Zoro 'slyly' remarked.

I glared at the swordsman. ''Zip it, Roronoa.''

''YOSH! GUYS, WE'RE GOING STRAIGHT TO ALUBARNA!''

''AYE!''

**[To Be Continued]**

This might feel a tad bit rushed and it is, so sorry about that. Its pretty early here and i feel like my head is tearing itself a new one. I seriously need a coffe, but there's a problem with that. I don't drink coffe!

Cool thing this week was the 10 wonderful reviews i got. I was surprised to see that and we're close to the 100 mark. So thanks for those and the like, i appreciate them.

The next chapter will hopefully be much longer and it might be the final part of this Arabasta arc.

Doton: Dochū Eigyo no Jutsu (Earth Release: Underground Projection Fish Jutsu): Its a technique to assimilate with the ground beneath the user and appeare somewhere to strike them. Kinda like the freak Zetsu, but in a smaller scale... i guess.

Remember to review to burst my ego!


	36. Off to Alubarna!

**Chapter 36: Off to Alubarna!**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Rainbase, Ezekiel's POV]

''They're getting away!''

''Pursue them!''

Some random Marines yelled at our retreating backs as I jumped and took in to the rooftops. I sighed in relief that this whole shit was over. The plus side of this would be that I got 70 million berries richer. I'll make sure i'm going to burn them on myself. Maybe get new clothes, weapons, earrings and truck loads of candies. I always thought that earrings were something every pirate should get and candies? I have a thing with sweets.

''Oi! Guys!'' Chopper shouted at us. The little reindeer was riding a huge grinning crab. From my vantage point, it looked pretty cool.

_''Those things are good. I remember eating one with my brethens, delicious.''_ Angel drooled and was about to lung at out ride.

''No eating our ride.'' I said and grabbed her by the tail. She gave me a angry look as I threw her back on my shoulder. ''I'll get you more of those jerkies sometimes later if you promise to behave.''

_''Finee.''_ She grumbled as I jumped from the rooftop I was in and landed next to Luffy.

''Looks tasty!'' The Captain also drooled like the lizard perched on my shoulder. That though quickly changed into one of admiration at the crab ''COOL! Cool! Cool! Cool! Awesome! Cool!''

''We get it, the crab's cool.'' I said with a side clance. ''Let's ride with it to Alubarna.''

''We can ride it?'' Luffy shouted in my ear.

''Isn't that what Vivi just said? Moving Crab?'' I said to the excited Luffy who introduced himself to our ride. ''I don't like that grin of his though.''

''Me neither. It looks a little shady.'' Nami said next to me. The navigators way too curious for her own good and I had a feeling it was because of my loot. WHICH I fairly stole from the casino.

I jumped on top of the creature and waved at Chopper. ''Good job, little man.'' He grinned at me and said that the crab is actually a friend of Eyelashes and has a lot of these friends of his around. ''Am I right to assume that their all like...'' I tried to find a good word and looked at Sanji.

''Oh, you mean as charming as me?'' Sanji said with a weird pose of his.

''Perverts was actually the word I was looking for.'' I answered indifferently and sat on the moss like fur of the crab. Sanji did the same and gave me glare.

''Shut up, Snugglebottom.'' He grumbled my nickname out loud. ''That's a pretty stupid name.''

''I'm sure it is.'' I chuckled and tuned out the info about the crab we mounted.

''Guys, hold on tight!'' Chopper shouted. He pulled the rope tied on the crab's eyes and moved it towards east to Alubarna. I was by now completely drained off and many questions came to my mind about todays troubles.

_''Maybe I could meditate this off.''_ I thought to myself and lied down on the moss when a loud scream was heard around. Looking at the source, it was Vivi being dragged by a golden hook on her waist. I briefly looked at Luffys expression and saw it was one of indifference. Hearing Zoro shout to Chopper for him stop the crab. Luffys face turned back to anger seeing Crocodiles ugly mutt. _''He really need to learn how to decide what mask to put on.''_

''It's him! You damned...!'' Luffy shouted and stretched his hand, grabbing the golden hook with a firm grip. He then swapped places with Vivi and threw the Princess towards me.

''What the hell!'' I shouted at Luffy. I was about to jump and go after him when the Captain shouted once more.

''Ezekiel! Don't! I'll go and beat the crap out of him! Look after the crew while i'm gone for awhile!''

''WHAT!'' I practically screamed at his retreating figure. Was he really putting that much responsibility on me? Why? I'm not even a leader material for Gods sake! ''The hell's that supposed to mean! Luffy! Haul your ass back here this instant!''

''Luffy-san!'' Vivi also shouted as she slowly regained her bearings from the collision she made with me.

''You guys go on ahead! I'll be fine by myself!'' I gritted my teeth in frustation at the guys stupidity. With a thud, he then landed on his back while still facing us. ''Make sure you get her there safely! Get Vivi back home!'' Luffy gave us a large grin as my eyes narrowed at the two person further away from Luffy.

Sighing, I sat down and crossed my legs beneath me. ''You heard him Chopper, move it.'' I said and closed my eyes to calm myself down.

''H-Hai!'' Chopper said with uncertainty in his voice. Hell, I could feel that emotion running in all of us, but my hands were tied. ''Let's go!''

''W-wait a second! We're just going to leave him!'' Usopp shouted at me. I just ignored his pleas of protecting him from future danger.

''LUFFY-SAN!'' Vivi shouted, but was restrained by Nami while I opened my one eye and looked at the crew I was responsible for awhile. Closing my eyes again, I tried to meditate. 'Trying' being the key word here while barely listening the crew talking to Vivi.

_''Well they won't die on me, that much I know. But why choose me?''_ I felt a headache coming my way and rubbed my forehead. _''This just keeps getting weirder and weirder. I have too many questions unanswered and its starting to mentally wear me off.'' _A sudden wind and shouts later, my eyelids twitched._ ''What was that? Some yelling about sandstorms. Great, Toto-ojisama's going to have his hands full with that.''_

We all were silent for quite some time while I spared some glances at them. I noticed Zoro using Eyelashes as a weightbell, Usopp babbling something to Chopper and the rest were silent. Looking down, I saw Angel curled in my lap so I tried not to move too much as the lizard was sleeping.

One thing was certain around here: everyone were worried sick about Luffy and I had a feeling that this slight tension won't be so slight. It all started with Nami reprimanding Zoro about saving his strenght and Sanji butting in. I tried to calm myself down from Sanjis words. It was true that I was sincerely afraid of Luffys health, but I knew he would find a way to beat Crocodile into a pulp.

I always kept my distance from other peoples fights if one said so.

After a couple of insults later. There was a sounds of two skulls being smashed and I opened my eyes to see Sanji and Zoro lying down with bumbs on their head. I shook my head and let them sort out their things. Even if Luffy placed me as his vice-captain. They need to learn that decicions based on emotions won't get them far. Well, they go far even without my help. I'm just being here to have some fun or 'living the dream' as Daxter put it.

Few seconds later, I felt a small tug on the back of my head. Focusing on it, the pull got stronger and with that everything went black in mind.

[Ezekiel's Mindscape]

Opening my eyes, the first thing I noticed around here was the lack of walls with the rune scribbles mocking me. What was in front of me now was... sea and clouds. And wind flowing rapidly past under me. Looking around, I couldn't spot my two friends I came to know in here. I tried to walk forward, but it was futile as I couldn't move anywhere.

Growling in frustation, I looked down and widened my eyes. I was falling from the sky into a small island that was getting bigger by the second! ''Oh my God! I'm gonna die!'' I paniced and flailed my arms with tears running down my face. As a means to calm myself down, I thought back what my 'dad' used to say about his first time skydiving from high altitudes. Scream like hell.

''WAAAAAAAAAH!''

It took me about 2 minutes of screaming when I landed on a heap of sand with a booming thud. The sand rose around me about 3 feet high and buried me under it. I stayed like that for quite a while and stood up with a groan, coughing the sand out of my lungs. What surprised me was that I wasn't in pain and couldn't detect a single scratch on my bare torso.

''Wait, where's my shirt?'' I asked myself as I dusted the sand off me. Looking around the island I landed, I was taken aback by the small cliff with purple moss on it. What I found fascinating though around here was the many huge black rods practically piercing the island from all around. I walked towards the nearest one and stared at it. The thing gave off a weird aura and I decided not to touch it without knowing what it was.

''Okay, i'm in a weird island with weird giant rods and stones with weird moss, purffect~!.'' I said and walked on top of the rubbles until I came across two figures surrounding a campfire. The odd thing was that the fire was dark purple. Shrugging it off, I waved at the two now familiar figures. ''Oi! Yama-chan! Triton-kun! The hell's going on in here!''

They both turned to me and I saw Triton waved back at me. Yama on the other hand ran at me and forcefully glomped me to the ground.

''Your back! Do you know how worried I was! You didn't visit us in like, ages!'' She stood up and dragged me to where Triton was grinning at me. Yama then forcible made me sit on a log around the campfire and left me there confused. What weirded me out even more was that she sat down between my legs and exposed her shoulders. ''You owe me a massage, so get to it.''

I raised my eyebrow at her. ''Since when did you get so... so Nami-like?''

She turned her head to me. ''I thought you'll like me more if I act like her.''

I visibly sweatdropped at that and looked at Triton who shrugged. ''As sweet as it sounds, there's really no need to impersonate a devil. I'd like you to act as the angel you are.'' I tried to sweet-talk with her and got a rapid nod from her. Smiling, I placed my hands on her shoulder and began to massage her. ''Now,'' I began and looked at Triton again. ''I want answers.''

''Of course, ask away.'' Triton bowed at me.

I thought about it for awhile when one came up to me. ''How come can I understand animal language? That stuff freaked me out.''

''Easy, those eyes of yours copied that ability.'' He smiled at me and I was this close to crack his skull open with one of those rods.

''Explain.''

''When you first got the three tomoes on your left eye. The first thing it noticed was Chopper and since your eyes aren't, uhm, the originals. It thought that he was an enemy and proceeded to help you out in your weakened state. Though, the little girl, Apis was it? There might be a little trait of her abilities too.''

''So your saying that its actually a jutsu?'' I said and completely ignored the part where I somehow copied a Devil Fruit-power to some degree as it was utterly ridiculous.

''The sharingans thinks it is.''

I cracked my knuckles to get rid of the strains on it and continued my task of massaging the possibly bipolar woman. ''It has a mind of its own?''

''Yes and no. You can activate it on your own, yes, but only to the two tomoes. If it goes to three by 'feeling' threatened, you will not only lose chakra at rapid pace, but also strain your body. Your sharingan isn't really a bloodline, but...''

''Its a jutsu?'' I continued where Triton hang out the word. ''Well I had theories about them ever since I first saw them, but I need to look more to it.''

Triton shrugged. ''You just happen to have more coils in your eyes than in your body, hence the change of color. It might even be related to that Haki used here, Kenbunshoku Haki (Color of Observation). Think of it as a Naruto version of Haki.''

''That's badass.'' I grinned at him. ''I'll try to look into it when this whole thing with Arabasta is over.'' I then looked around the place and my eyes landed on he giant black rods. ''What happened in here? Not that I mind it, but the change in here's huge.''

With a jolt, Yama stood up and sat next to me where she gripped my arm. ''You like it? I made the island myself...'' She then glared at Triton who rubbed the back of his head. ''I thought youd like the change and I even made the wind here.''

''That's great, its better than the cramped room.'' I sighed as the wind flew past me. ''And those huge pillar of weird... rods?''

''Those tattoos you recently took are the result of it. Since their also part of you now, their part of my island.'' Yama huffed. ''The down side of this is that you can't use chakra efficiently for quite awhile once these are active, so be careful with that.''

A sudden realisation hit me. ''Oh! So that's why my clone, or Eligos, couldn't contact me. Damn. I knew this was too good to be true.'' I grumbled at the lack of chakra usage while using my wonder tattoos I haven't named it yet. The old man said it was called a Troppossfm... I don't know. It sounded stupid as hell though. Shaking my head, another question popped into my mind. Or minds? ''Uhm, what happened to the weird square room?''

They both pointed up and I followed their fingers. What I saw next left me gob smacked. There was a giant square box hovering about 50 metres above us. I couldn't see if the scribbles were still there, but I was confused that I didn't notice it before.

Triton seemed to notice my uneasiness ''Don't beat yourself too much about it. The Poneglyph only appears once your under it.''

I continued to stare at the thing. ''What does a huge stone block, that's supposed to lead me to one of the ancient weapons in One Piece, levitate in my mind?''

''Dunno, I thought it was something important to you, so I left it like that. Though the runes and scribbles went inside out.'' Yama explained to me and started to hop around. Snapping her fingers, a marshmallow bag appeared out of nowhere and began to munch on it. ''Just so you know, that thing was here much longer than I was.''

I just nodded and took a mouthful of marshmallows Yama offered. Stuffing them in my mouth, I progressed everything I learned now. ''And I can't read that...'' A picture of Robin flashed in my mind and I tried to shake it off. _''She is the only one who can read that smut anyways.''_

''I know there's a lot Master wants to ask, but your friends are now in slight danger involving crabs and crossing a river with a crab who can't swim. I'll try to probe around here and find something useful.'' Triton smiled at me and we stayed still for good 3 minutes. ''Master doesn't know how to get out?''

''No, Master does not.'' I sarcastically shot back. ''I tried to will the door again, but I guess it runs late as usual.''

Rubbing the back of his head the second time, Triton pointed at the purple campfire. ''Just step on top of the fire and your out.''

''That's it?''

''That's it.''

''Anything else?''

''Try visit time to time. It's been boring here with short stuff here.'' Yama said and gave me a tight hug which I returned. ''And be safe.''

''I'm always safe.'' A hard glare later from the katana, I smiled at her. ''Hai, Yama-chan.'' I walked on top of the fire and I was surprised that it didn't burn. Seconds later, the whole fire engulfed me and my vision blacked for the second time.

[Outside of Ezekiel's Mind]

Gently opening my eyes. The first thing I saw in front of me was Angel licking my face. I began to massage my shoulder and noticed the night sky.

_''You've been out us for awhile. Everyone thought you were asleep.''_ Angel told me as she probably sensed my confused stare on her.

''Anything else?'' I said and looked around the moving crab we were on. Angel began to tell me about the crabs inability to swim and that it was mostly silent here with Nami occasionally poking my head. I grew a tick mark from that and stood up dusting myself.

''So now's the perfect time to wake up?'' Nami walked over me and gave me a stare.

''I wasn't sleeping.'' I returned the stare.

''Then what were you doing? I tried to get your attention.''

''I was meditating.'' I bluntly said when another thought came to me. ''What is it that you wanted?''

''How much did you get from the casino?''

I sweatdropped from that. _''I should've known better'' _Shaking my head, I tried to come up with another excuse so as to not have my hard earned money stolen from the greedy navigator. ''I think I have enough to pour all of it in a giant pool and rub it all around my naked body.'' I said and sagely nodded like my Master used to after a lecture.

*BAM*

''Be serious for once!''

I took my scroll containing the money and held it close to my chest. ''You'll have to take this from my cold, dead hands.'' She narrowed her eyes at me and with a huff she crossed her arms over her chest and walked away. Looking towards where the crab was going, I shrugged and looked at the crew. ''There's a river in front of us.'' I bluntly said after few minutes of silence.

''WE KNOW!''

Stretching a bit, I took my scroll and strapped it into my lower back. ''Ya'll weird.'' I grumbled and felt Angel climbling up my body.

_''Humans...''_

''Could you stop with that? Geez...'' Angel pouted at me. Chuckling, I scratched her under the chin and gave a light pat. The crew were getting anxious about not crossing the Sandora river and began to plead the crab to run faster. That was when Chopper told them that Scissors like dancer girls and later we saw Nami strip her desert robe off, leaving her with the dancer outfit Sanji bought for her back in Nanohana. Instanly, the camel and Sanji began to drool all over her. The same happened to the Moving Crab as he set its eyes on Nami.

Looking down at Scissors...legs, he began to accelerate and I made a quick calculation that with that speed we were moving. _''We're not going to make it.''_ My pessimistic side kicked me across the head.

''NAMI-SWAAAN~!'' Sanji swooned. Feeling that someone was looking at me, I began to search for said person.

''Say, your not worried about Luffy?'' Zoro inquired.

Blinking twice, I grinned at him. ''I thought I said it before, I ain't following a weak Captain. Relax, he'll be fine.'' Zoro sighed in relief followed by few more that listened to our short conversation.

''Yeah, your right.''

''Yosh! Ero power!'' Chopper cheered at the crab.

''And... how does this solve our problem?'' Usopp said and began to panic as the river was getting closer and closer.

*SPLASH!*

The crab hit the water and ran on top of it like hounds of hell were after him. During that time, I felt that our speed was gradually decreasing.

''It's a miracle!'' Usopp cheered. ''Just stay on the water's surface the whole way! Run! Run! Run the whole way! Go! You'll get there! You're doing it!'' In the middle of Usopps cheers, the crab finally lost its speed. I was humored that in the middle of all this, the crab still had hearts in his eyes. ''Hey hold it! Is he sinking?''

I took a deep breath and exhaled it out. ''Like a stone.''

''Are we sinking!'' Usopp asked around us as his cheers turned into a paniced one. ''We're sinking!''

As the crab was sinking and my boots were damped with water. I poured chakra into it and stood on top of waters surface. Despite all of this, I had to put more than usual on water-walking. It took me a few seconds to see the problem when Angel began to growl. I looked at the source and it was Nami, who clung to my back and gave me a grin.

''I hope you don't mind.''

I shrugged and made her ride a bit more comfortable by grabbing her under her tights. I felt her tense, but eased up and wrapped her arms around my neck. Angel reluctantly let her and took a seat near the end of my scroll.

''Oi! That's not fair!'' Usopp shouted at me and tried to catch up. ''I want a ride too!''

''Sorry, one and a half passanger at a time.''

''Can't you make those clones of yours?'' Usopp tried to reason with me.

''Nah, i'd rather not. They been a bunch of pain-in-the-ass lately.'' I grumbled and thought about Eligos and the possible mistake i've made creating him. Shaking my head, I thought about counselling this with Triton. Seeing the others swimming with Chopper sitting on Zoro's head. I began to take the lead whilst thinking how to spend my money.

''Can I ask you something?'' Nami got close to my cheek.

I looked at her from the corner of my eye and grinned. ''You just did.''

Growling, she smacked my head and glared at me. ''Idiot.''

''I'm just teasing. What it is that you wanted to ask?'' Nami was about to open her mouth when I shook my head. ''I still won't tell you how much I looted. You'll have to figure it out yourself.''

Another huff escaped her mouth as I chuckled at her. ''Fine. I wanted to ask you what were you doing for the last 3 hours?''

''Meditating.'' I bluntly replied and gave her a side clance. ''Intrested?''

''Does it help?''

''Yeah, a lot actually. The doctors said that even though my brain sometimes refuses to sleep, my body still needs its sleep. Most of the time they just forced pills down my windpipe and it wasn't much longer till I grew accustomed to it. Later though my Master saw my problem and taught me to seperate my mind from my body by introducing me to this thing called...'' I suddenly froze as something clicked on the back of my head. Like a certain stored memory that I have banished starts to surface.

''Introduced you to what?'' Nami asked and shook me a little from my lack of responce. I could only curse Master in my head, but eventually decided to just grumble under my breath.

''That senile old dick. I bet he knew it all along.'' I could've sworn that I heard the man laughing and pointing his finger at me from the otherside. ''Forget that I ever talked, Nami-chan.'' I jumped a bit to hoist her up a bit. The girl was way too light-weighted. _''Wait? Nami-_chan?_ Since when did I used that?''_

''Whatever.'' I could feel that she wasn't happy by my answer, but I was that she actually let it be. It wasn't that I didn't want to talk about it, but more like I was pretty much confused as hell by now. I need serious meditation AND medication after this. There was few questions flying around that I mildly listened to. Like that there aren't many ships going through here and that there's about 50 kilometers between us and the shore.

''WE CAN'T SWIM THAT FAR!'' Usopp shrieked. The rest was with Chopper waving at Scissors. I just nodded at the creature and walked forward when there was something emerging from the waters. I stopped and began to stare at it until a giant catfish returned my stare.

''A Rare Sandora Catfish! They call it that because it's so rare to see one!'' Vivi lectured us as I took my tanto to slice the fish in pieces.

''It's not going to be rare once i'm done with it.'' I was disappointed when the fish just went down and lost its consiousness by Luffys pupils. With a sigh, I sheated my tanto back and jumped on top of the beated catfish. Setting Nami down, I went to grab Vivi and Chopper as the rest of the guys can swim there for themselves.

[Maybe an Hour Later?]

''Thank you!'' Vivi waved at the Dugongs that saved us. The trip towards the shore continued Sanji and Usopp pestering me that I didn't help them and Angel licking my cheek the moment she took her spot. I was still trying to get used to that, but in the end, let her do what she wanted.

''Alright guys, listen up.'' I began and got their attention. ''Even though were making good time now, there's still the problem with transportation. I suggest we-'' I tried to come up with a good plan when a weird sound came from my pouch. Pocketing it out, staring at me was the Baby Den Den Mushi I took from the casino vault and it was making that weird 'Bla Bla'-noise. I was surprised that someone was calling to this thing and kept thinking that should I answer it.

''Are you going to answer that?'' Sanji looked at it over my shoulder.

''I guess I should.'' I turned around and decided to talk to this person in private. ''This might be important..'' I said with my back turned to me and gave Chopper a look. ''And no eavesdropping.'' After the reindeer nodded, I jumped on a rock and got a good distance from the crew. Tapping the snail on its shell, its facial expression changed into a emotionless stare with one line under its 'nose'.

''The preparation are set, Sir. I'm currently here in Alubarna waiting for my targets arrival as per my superiors instructions.'' The robotic voice said. ''What is his current status?'' I scratched my head at the things weird behaviour and was thinking that should I answer it. ''Sir?'' It continued and I could hear a slight frustation coming from the other end of the line.

_''Looks nothing to me, can I eat it?''_ Angel asked me and I had to shut her up lest the unknown person hears us. After few more seconds, the person sighed and the snails expression changed into one of amusement. The only emotion that it displayed in our short time.

''Whoever's on the other line. Tell Mr. Zero to lure my target to the Central City Square in Alubarna.'' It said and probably waited for my response. Thinking quickly, I coughed into my palm and tried to sound more professional.

''Hai! I shall inform this to him right away.'' I though my voice sounded more like a Sanjis, but it was enough to fool the mystery person. ''If you don't mind me asking, whose your targer?'' I inquired and tried to sound indifferent about his job. A chuckle later, the snails eyes closed as me and Angel waited for him to say something.

''Ezekiel Vane.''

That said, the person hung up and the Baby Den Den Mushi went to sleep. I started to sweat that it was now confirmed that someone IS after my head. Looking between Angel and the snail, I shook my head and stored it back in my pouch. Grumbling, Angel looked away from me as I denied her small snack and stared at the rising sand dust coming towards us. Paying no heed to it, I tried to come up with a decision.

_''Should I meet with this person? He could be a danger for all I know.''_ I though to myself and grabbed my head from the upcoming headache. _''Perhaps I should see it and confirm. I could get some information about my status here in One Piece world.''_

Walking forward, I head Usopp stuttering about enemy aproaching us. Stretching a bit, the sand dust that was coming towards us was actually Carue and his posse.

''Carue and the Super Spot-Billed Duck Squad!'' Vivi shouted in cheers when the duck lined up to us. ''You've come to help us!'' With a quack, the ducks saluted at us and strutted forward. I looked around and spotted a duck with a sailor outfit and grinned at it.

''Guess you'll be my ride?'' The duck looked at me and quacked. Raising my eyebrow, I jumped on its saddle. _''I think I have to get to know the duck before I understand what their saying.''_ I surmised and wasn't really that much away from the truth. ''I shall call you, Donald.'' A quack confirmed me that it presumably like the new I gave him.

''Where did you get the Den Den Mushi?'' Sanji asked me as he took a ride himself and caught up to me.

''I found it back when me and Angel were robbing Rain Dinners. I thought it would come in handy and I got an info from it that the other Agents of Croco-teme are waiting for us. So be prepared that there will be a clash and I want this to go as smooth as possible.'' Looking at the other duck riding pirates, I received a nod which I returned to them. I took my ride next to Vivi and grabbed the scrolls containing our mantles. Summoning them out of it, I gave everyone a white mantle with a hoodie. There wasn't any words needed as they all changed into one and put the hood on.

I even made sure to put the items I took from Erumalu inside Donalds pouch.

[Morning, Near Alubarna]

We were riding for God knows how long until Alubarna was on our sight. Narrowing my eyes and avtivating the sharingans, I could see 6 person standing there at the western gate.

The other 5 Agents I already knew by watching this said anime, but the sixth one was the strangest amongs them. I wasn't sure if it was a he or a she, but I was leaning towards a he by the the hight and broad shoulders. He was easily as tall as Daz Bones, maybe few inches off, but as intimidating as the man next to him. He had a black leather jump-suit with steel paddings on his shoulders and knees. What I found was odd was the huge canister on his back and the grey goggles on his head.

All in all, he looked pretty much like your local exterminator. Shrugging my shoulder, I heard Zoro shout and we maneuvered way from the baseball that seconds later detonated itself into a fiery explosion.

The plan was simple: Get Vivi to southern gate entrance by any means necessary. Other than that, it was more like a divine and conquer between us to lure the Agents away from Vivi so she could stop the war. My assingment though was slightly different as I had a date with whoever was after me. That kinda sounds funny if you think about it. Like i'm some evil person or a dangerous fugitive whose existence has to be either neutralized and/or terminated.

But aside from the weirdness that was today. I had a sinking feeling, that I wasn't that far away from the truth.

**[To Be Continued]**

Yeah, its been now 7 days (or a week for some people) since I last updated. My longest delay so far, but the good news would be that I already started making the One Piece movies (the beginning parts, yes and no, I won't tell you what movie). I've even experienced this something called 'Writers block' and after a long gruesome fight, I won it.

There has been a lot of thinking on my part about Ezekiel's opponent, but in the end, I got one. I'll also try to give him, (her?) a personality, but I assure that he/she will be strong. Maybe stronger than Blade, maybe... maybe.

If i've made any mistakes here, i'd like to be PM'd or reviewed about them as to improve the story more. That's my opinion though, feel free to do that or not, but either way... _i'm watching you._


	37. Ezekiel vs Specter

**Chapter 37: Ezekiel vs. Specter.**

**Wo-hoo! Another long chapter! I'll try and keep it that way, but I don't make any promises.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Alubarna Streets, Ezekiel's POV]

''Just go straight forward Donald.'' I patted the duck on its head where it let out a short quack and sped up. At first I was suspicious about the extra guy being my opponent, but let it go as I was sure whoever the guy was, he'll meet me at the Central City Square. Looking behind me, I heard several cannonshots and cringed at it. _''Be safe, Vivi, everyone.''_ I rubbed my bandaged arm hiding the X-mark to calm myself down.

_''So, what's the plan?'' _Angel inquired with a nudge on my cheek. _''This whole place is in chaos and i'd like to have my snack now.''_

My eyebrow twitched at her behaviour. Ever since Nami took her spot in my back and shoulder, she's been all snippy at me. ''The second this war is over, you'll get your snack.'' She growled a bit, but I dismissed it as her stomach started to demand food. ''Our plan is beating the hell out of my supposed hitman and track Luffy down. There's no way in hell i'm gonna miss that fight.''

[Central City Square]

We finally got to the Central City Square for my date, but I was disappointed that my mystery date wasn't here. Regardless, I started to get ready and tried to prepare myself by counting my weapon inventory. ''Lets see, I still have few kunais, dozens of shurikens, 1 fuuma shuriken and wires. Great, i'm out of tags.'' I pouted and made a mental note to make more of those with the special ink. Getting off the duck, I gazed around the empty city and shrugged. Taking out all my equipments except the weapons, I gave them to Donald when a voice came behind me.

''Ezekiel Vane I presume.'' The monotone voice from the Den Den Mushi said. I turned around and activated my sharingans at him with a glare. Now that I could see him closer. The guy had the black jumpsuit, which was an odd attire to wear when the sun's staring at you from above. He also had those steel paddings and goggles. Black hair, black eyes and black... tattoos? Narrowing my eyes, there actually was black tattoos on his cheeks, jaw and nose. I thought I saw more on his neck, but dismissed it as something part of his suit. It had those symmetrical lines starting from the corner of his mouth and were connected to his nose and cheek. What I found was intresting was that his right cheek had a black circle on it.

_''Weird.''_ I smiled at the guy with a wave. ''That'll be me.'' I saw he nodded and jumped off the rooftop he lounged. Shrugging at the guy, I looked at my two animal companions. ''You two can go leave us.''

Donald quacked at me and made a straight beeline towards west. I sweatdropped at the sight and turned to Angel. I could see that she was deciding wether to leave me or assist me. _''Are you sure? I could help.''_ She said sincerely and looked dejected when I shook my head.

''I'm sorry, but no. I can't bear seeing you get hurt.'' I deftly said to her with a stare. ''This is my business and i'd rather have not anyone get involved in it.'' Growling, she licked my cheek and scurried away from us.

''Your pet?'' The man said as I took my robe off and sealed my tanto away.

''Nah, she's my partner.'' I fixed him, still with the sharingan on. ''I never got you name though.''

''Call me Specter.'' He curtly replied and took a hose that was linked to his canister. I raised my eyebrow at what he did next. The guy drank from the hose and I was curious about the contents on it. Taking a deep breath, Specter put his goggles on and spat something green on me. I took a fast step to the side and dodged the glob green goo that was slowly eating the concrete behind me.

''What the hell! Watch where you spit! That was about to hit me you know.'' I shouted at him.

''That was because I was aiming at you. I ate the Tsuba Tsuba no Mi (Spit Spit Fruit). It allows me to spit liquid substances with great speed.'' Here he demonstrated by spitting another one next to my head. I looked at the spot he aimed and saw a bullet-sized mark on it. ''Added with my Power Circulator.'' Here he emphasized his tattooed face. ''I can change my attacks density, potency and as you saw its acidity. All that with the simple use of water.'' He motioned to his canister strapped on his back.

''You mean this one?'' I showed my own tattoos and smirked when I saw his slack-jawed expression.

''T-that's impossible! That's only accesible for our organization!'' Specter screamed at me.

''What organization?''

I saw he smirked at me and crossed his arms over his chest. ''We're called: The Purifiers. Our job is to eliminate any and all threaths for our ultimate cause. Unfortunately for you, your on our way, but being the nice guy that I am. I'm going to give you a choice.''

I raised my eyebrow again. ''Choice?''

''Well, more like a propose from our superiors. We were having some problem lately with the other organization called The Equalists. The problem here would be that those bastards work hand-in-hand with the Revolution army like the pussies they are. We, on the other hand, work for a mutual benefit with the World Goverment.''

''And how do I fit in all of this?''

''Simple. You join our ranks, defect from that weak group of criminals, destroy our enemies and let us examine those eyes of yours to create more of them. I'm sure Vegapunk would love to get look at them. I'm also led to believe that you know the location of the missing Poneglyph.''

_''A job offering? Wasn't that the same what the Revolution Leader hinted to me back in Loguetown? Unlikely, but what if? I'd rather go into a mass genocide than side with the World Goverment. The info that they want my eyes AND the weird stone cube in my mind...''_ I thought to myself and decided to take a leap of faith. If worse comes to worse, they'll leave me no other alternative.

''So...'' He impatiently tapped his foot against the concrete. ''I could always just kill you and drag your corpse to the HQ.''

''Thanks.'' I smiled at him and saw that Specter raised his brow questioningly. ''You just made my decision that much easier.'' Flashing through a set of hand seals. I sharply inhaled a good amount of air in my lungs and stared at my opponent. ''Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!)''

I saw he was surprised, but regained his cool and made a impressive jump on the rooftop next to him. Narrowing his eyes, Specter also took a deep breath and spat three bullet-sized globs at me from the rooftop. I jumped back and landed on the opposite end of the building top he occupied. ''I see why their intrested.''

I wasn't sure what he meant, but I kept my eyes on him and tried to end this as quickly as possible. I unsheated my katana and took a ready stance with my eyes locked onto his. Using a quick Shunshin, I was in front of him and took a swipe at Specter from his left. I saw he smirked and was about to spit at me and noticed the black circle turning green for a second. Cursing in my mind. I tried to get away from his line of sight. I wasn't that fortunate as the guy shot spit after spit towards me.

At first I planned to delflect those things with the flat side of my katana, but I was pretty sure that Yama would probably kill me if I did. So I did what first came to mind. ''Aaaaaaah!'' I screamed like a little girl and ran away from the spitting man. ''Thats just gross man!'' I shouted defiantly.

''Cut the crap Vane and fight me!''

I sighed at that. ''I guess it must be the bad guy thing to use my lastname.'' It was then that I noticed the Rebelist and the Royalist clashing around us. I also made the mistake of ignoring my opponent, when something bullet-like hit my back. It didn't pierce me as I expected, but it did hurt like hell. Grabbing my robe, I took it off and threw the cloth away. I saw it was slowly being eated away from the acidic saliva and got a slight burnt mark on my back. _''If my Master saw me slacking off, he'd re-educate me again. I'd rather take death than that.''_

''C'mon, your obviously holding back. I want to see what's so intresting about you!'' Specter shouted at me. The spitman was grinning and I felt he, like my previous opponents, were psychotic. He took a deep breath, still with the grin on which left me confused about his sanity. ''Tsuba Tsuba no Shotgun!'' Specter shouted and released multiple spitshots at me at once. I threw myself to the side and dodged the barrage of spits that hit the building behind me.

*CRASH*

I looked where the noise came from and widened my eyes. The building where the spitshotgun hit was reduced nothing but rubbles. _''If that hit me...'' _I gluped at the thought. Looking back at the spitter. I knew that short and long-range combat were going to be difficult with this guy. That _might_ be a problem since i'll now have to start spawning jutsu after jutsu at him. Shaking my head, I took a handful of shurikens and threw them at Specter.

I expected him to dodged them so I could finish him off while being distracted, but I was taken aback when he casually spat at the incoming projectiles. I growled at him and felt a pulse in my left arm that slowly gave me more chakra.

Looking at Specter, I saw him take another fill from him canister and sighed in relief. It was then that I planned that the canister had to be die. literally. I saw that Specter was rinsing his mouth and raised an eyebrow at that.

''Tsuba Tsuba no Gattling Gun!'' Specter spat a huge barrage of spits, much like Luffys Gattling Gun, but with sharp, piecing spits. I saw Luffy dispatch his enemies with that attack and I wasn't that curious of trying the slightly alternate version of it.

Flashing through the second set of seal today. I took a deep breath with my hands in a tiger seal. ''Katon: Boukaheki no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Fire Wall Jutsu!)'' With some effort, I spewed a fireball from my mouth that morphed into a wall in front of me. It was one of my modified versions of the original Grand Fireball and truthfully. I was glad I did that as the Fire Wall vaporised the spits.

''I didn't expect that.'' Specter actually complimented me with a nod. ''But I still have my orders. Be a good boy and die. Tsuba Tsuba no Shotgun!'' Specter shouted and threw the same spitshotgun at me. I wasn't that eager to die now, so I replaced myself with a random rebelist who kindly took the attack for me.

Peeking from a random street. I saw that the rebelist who took the hit and was sent far away from the concussive force of the spit attack.

''S-sorry!'' I tried to apologize, but I was sure that he didn't hear me. ''What the hell, what the hell...''

''Didn't know you could be so cruel.'' Specter chuckled. ''And a pussy for not taking the attack like a man.''

I scowled at him, but I could keep it that way for long as it turned into a grin. ''Well, i'd like to think of myself as a Shinobi. And as you perhaps know, Shinobis, don't fight fair.'' I looked around the place we were now and saw that it was slowly filled with people clashing swords and guns. With a groan of frustation, I leaped back into the neares rooftop and turned to Specter. ''I think it would be fair for both of us to move our date elsewhere.''

''Anything to get this day behind me.'' He rolled his eyes at me and saw that he was about to attack me.

_''Good, that way I could lead him somewhere people won't get in my way.''_ On our way to the random direction I took. We were encountered with bunch of royalist that mistook me as the enemy. Growling at them, I finished them off with basic taijutsu and also had to dodge spits from the bored Specter.

I stopped near a street where I thought would be a great place to wipe that smug face off. Specter studied the surrounding and nodded. What surprised me about his behaviour was that he was rinsing his mouth. That was when I noticed that he was about to use some acid on me. Narrowing my eyes at him, I took the opportunity to make my own attack known to him.

''Tsuba Tsuba no...'' Specter inhaled a massive amount of air and glared at me.

''Katon...'' I did the same and also took an eye contact with him. _''Good.''_ I inwardly grinned.

''...Piston!'' A condensed acid spitrocket was shot from Specters mouth. The thing looked more like a huge, truck-sized spit than and actual piston.

''...Gōryūka no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Jutsu!)'' I spewed my own dragon-shaped fireball at the incoming acid rocket.

*BOOM!*

A thunderous explosion sent us both in different direction until we crashed into the buildings behind us. I was sure that explosion was heard all around Alubarna, since my ears were ringing from the force I took. My back ached and I could swear that I hear my skull crack when I collided with yet another building behind me. There was nothing backing me up and I landed just under said building where a ton loads of rubbles buried me.

With a great effort, I finally got the stones off and cursed Luffy and Zoro in my mind. Those guys were physically a lot stronger than me and was sure that these rubbles wouldn't be much of a problem for them. Slowly standing up from my position. I made a limping walk to see how Specter took the damage dealt to him.

I took in the surrounding and cringed a bit. _''If Vivi finds out that it was me who destroyed that statue of her father...''_ I shook my head at that. It wasn't my fault that it was near my battlefield and the shaking rubbles got me on edge. Seconds later, there was Specter, all ragged up as I took a great pleasure seeing his canister had a hole in it.

''No! My ammo!'' He screamed and took the hose connected to the canister. What he did next took me off guard. Specter began to consume what was left of the canister with a pained expression. I kinda took pity on the guy, that much water in him will certaily cost him the slight advantage he had over me. Despite that, he managed to save what was left and glared at me.

''Dude? Are you hitting on me? Well, we should glare at each other menacingly more ofter. But I do have to finish this little date of ours. It seems that watching you spit makes me want to heave up my own feet.'' I tried to get a rise out of him and I was well aware of the line I was trespassing.

''I think you just made _my_ choice much easier.'' He smirked at me. ''I'll bury you in my acid!'' Specters throat swelled up and threw his broken goggles off. ''Tsuba Tsuba no Missile!'' He shot three cannon-sized acid projectiles at me. I craftly jumped over them and gave Specter a look.

''That's it?'' I asked him and was confused by the weird hand poses he made. _''That looks waaay too familiar. Its like I saw them somewhere.''_ I though and looked behind me. My eyes widened when the three globs were actually chasing me from behind and this time they were a lot faster than before. I quickly made a Shunshin and reappeared a good distance away from the last position I was. The missiles whizzed past it and I saw that Specter made more of those familiar movements with his arms.

''Behold my power! I trained my Devil Fruit to the point where I can change its course with a simple thought!'' He grinned and pointed his palm at me.

_''Why didn't he use that before? Another thing about One Piece bad guys that i'll never know.''_ I groaned and figured that if I take a distance from him. The missiles effect wears off and i'll get to finish him. That would've been a good idea if Specter would stay still, but no. He had to follow my ass around here. But I was glad that he was walking slowly instead of running.

''Get back here!''

''Na-ah! You'll burn me if I do!'' I whined back at him. Usually I like to act arrogant against my opponent to get a rise out of them. It worked couple of time and its good to use against people with low intelligent.

I heard him growl and saw that one of the green missiles accelerated. A splash was heard when the area next to me was hit with said acid missile. What I forgot to take account to was that the missile that splashed exploded into tiny drops of acid and got into my right torso.

''AAAAAAAAH! It burns!'' I shouted in pain and jumped around. The bastard got that stuff on my hands and I knew that making hand seals now would be a pain in the ass. ''Bastard! Be careful with that stuff!'' I waved my left arm at him.

''Sorry, i'm a mercenary. And we mercs don't play fair.'' He smirked as the other two missiles were hovering above him, waiting for his command. ''Just tell me the location of the hidden Poneglyph and i'll grant you a painless death.''

''Fuck do I know where that is!'' I shouted at him and resumed my growl at him. I knew I was getting reckless here and I needed to calm myself.

''There's no need to prolong this anymore. Your beat, you can't use your hands.''

''Oh, I can use my hands perfectly.'' I grinned and painfully enclosed my right fist. He saw that I was about to attack and sent his two missiles at me. Feeling the lightning building up in my right fist. I used another flame Shunshin right when the missiles were about to hit me. Pulling my fist back, I sucked punched the spitters face with a shout of 'Raiken!'

*CRASH!*

Specter hit the building behind him and I had seconds when the missiles were about to hit me. I accelerated my speed again to dodge them and fell on my knees. ''Shit. That took a lot out of me.'' I panted and glared at the spot where Specter emerged. I saw he was looking down right murderous and I tried to stand up from the good use of Body Flickers.

''Bastard!'' He growled and also panted. The tattoos on his face were getting that sick neon green coloring. What he did took me completely off guard. The guy had a knife in his hand and stabbed his arm with it.

''Oi oi! Your supposed to do that to me!'' I shouted and was about to gag. Specter began to drink his own blood and his tattoos were slowly turning red. He began to rinse his mouth and took a deep breath. At first I though that he'll spit another modified spit at me, but that was not the case. He cupped his hands and heaved a slimy red goo. ''Eeeeew... that's... that's... a playdoh?'' I deadpanned when he began to condence it into a ball. _''Great! My Genjutsus effect wore off when he stabbed himself. I guess I'll have to make another one, but it will weaken me faster.''_

''This here is my trumpcard! I'll cut you into piece with it!'' Specter laughed maniacly and held the goo in his palm. I found it was funny that the guy turned it into a disc like i've seen a professional pizza maker do. ''Tsuba Tsuba no Tsuibi Chi-Enzan! (Spit Spit Homing Blood Disc!)'' Specter shouted and I saw that the disc was hovering in his palm. What troubled me was that it let out a noise that eerily resembled that of a circling saw. ''DIE!''

''Yaiks!'' I shouted when Specter threw the blood red disc at me. He resumed his arm signs and the other two missiles were sent at me. I saw with my sharingans that the acid missiles were much faster and a challenge to dodge. What worried me was the huge gash that the red disc left behind a random building. _''If that hits me, there would be no doubt about the cause of my death.''_

''Hahahahaha! You better be careful Vane! My Chi-Enzan can cut through anything!'' Specter laughed at me as I took a second to look at him.

_''Those movements... I know I saw them somewhere!''_ I thought as the red disc whizzed beneath me. The other tow missiles were slowly getting on my nerves and decided to get rid of them. Not one to leave all to chance. I made the choice to use a powerful jutsu to get rid of it. ''Raiton: Gian! (Lightning Release: False Darkness!)'' Instead of releasing the jutsu from my mouth. I pointed my finger at the incoming acid missile in a gun-like fashion. With a grunt, a spear shaped azure lightning escaped from the tip of my finger and destroyed one of the missiles. The other missile was nearing me when that happened again. The missile drastically slowed down and a unbearable pain shot through my left eye.

What I did next came as a instincs and let myself fall on my back. I imagined I made the matrix dodge as the acid missile went past my bent torso. After that I collapsed on my back and screamed in pain whilst grabbing my left eye.

''Oh i'm definitely impressed. I didn't think you'd be able to dodge that.'' Specter held his arms wide open as his attacks hovered above his hands. ''I can see your in pain, but I can't understand why your letting yourself suffer for others? Are they really worth that much?'' He boasted as I returned my glare at him. I saw that the guy was sweating uncontrollably. I slowly stood up and chuckled as a lecture from my past came to my mind.

''Let me tell you a little story.'' I began and saw Specter was slowly composing himself. I knew he took this opportunity to rest a bit, but so did I. ''I never thought that this would happen. I never thought that this would be possible, but still, it happened.'' I wistfully sighed and looked at the sky with my palm towards the sun. ''I'm grateful it happened and I even have the power to hold onto it.''

''W-what are you talking about!'' Specter showted and his resting time was doing the opposite on him. It was exhausting him.

''I finally have nakamas and the power to protect them. Something I tried to achieve most my whole life. My Master used to tell me that if I have people that I want to protect. I can get stronger and now that I have. I know I can win this with them watching my back.'' I inhaled another large amount of air until I could practically feel my chest swell. Clenching my right fist, I punched my chest with a shout of: ''Fūton: Renkūdan! (Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet!)'' That jutsu is currently my strongest wind attack, which left me panting after its release.

*SPLATCH!*

That was the sound of the acid missile exploding on top of Specter who screamed in pain. I dropped on to my knees and was close to my limits. The red disc was still hovering and making that buzzing noise that got me on constant alert.

''You...*pant*... bastard!'' Specter visiously glared at me. His whole face was covered in sweat and there was the same redness that Nami had when she was in that fever of hers.

''Tell me..*pant*... is it, hot in here?'' I inquired and closed my left eye from the continuous stinging sensation. I smirked victoriously at his dumbfounded expression.

''W-w-what d-did you d-do to me?'' Specter asked, still with the disc hovering above his left hand.

''Magen: Onsui Tamashii (Demonic Illusion: Heated Soul). A simple illusion to set your brain against your body and heat it up, nice and slowly I might add. Even though its hot as hell here, your brain thinks its cold as fuck.'' I chuckled to myself. ''As you probably feel under that leather jumpsuit, it is _very_ hot and your skin must feel like its on fire. You also lost a considerable amount of fluid in your body by upkeeping those Devil Fruit-attacks.'' I summoned my shuriken and threw it at Specters left shoulder.

Specter shouted in pain and glared at me. Swinging his arms, the mercenary threw the disk at me, this time the thing was fast as hell and I had to use my left sharingan again. I used chakra on my feet to climb a nearby small church as I kept gazing at Specter.

''I've _really_ had enough of this! No more! I will not be humiliated like this!'' Specter shouted. I ignored his proclamation and stared at his movements.

_''Those are... those are Frieza's moves from Dragonball Z! That time when he tried to kill Goku with those things.''_ I though and saw that the dics were getting faster and faster by the second. _''If this continues much longer, he'll either exhaust himself to death or kill himself.''_ ''Listen Specter! There's no need to go any further than this!''

''Your right! Let's end this! Starting by your death!'' He shouted maniacly and I knew that the guy lost it then and there.

''This makes no sense!'' I shouted as the disc whizzed past my cheek and gave me a light cut on it. ''I don't want this to go any further than it already is! People are already dying here for their country!''

''Its not my problem!''

''Stop being selfish! Your body can't take it anymore!'' I tried to pacify with him. And yes, I was being a hypocrite here, but I had a reason. I wanted to know more about his organization and see if their a threat.

''Are you underestimating me!'' Specter growled and I saw that his tattoos were loosing its red coloring. He made more of those poses and the disc that followed me was about to get too close for comfort. Opening my left eye again, I ran at Specter who grinned at me. ''As if i'm stupid enough to get caught by my own attack!''

I ignored his mouthing and tried to get as close as possible. Right when I was close to the dark-eyed maniac. I took a leap and jumped high up. Specter continued laughing and swung his arm up where he commanded the disc after me. _''Shit.''_

''You'll have to be much more clever than that!'' Specter shouted in glee when the disc was about to cleave me. ''Gotcha!''

I was actually lucky that I got the Kawarimi (Replacement) in time and switched places with a nearby rubble. Specter growled and hastily searched for me with the spinning disc hovering in his hand.

''Looking for someone?'' I inquired from nearby rooftop with my arms crossed and stared at him with pity.

''Stop toying with me shit-for-face!''

I scowled at him and refrained from killing the guy. ''I don't understand why you call me with such mindless name. The only thing it does is that it reveals your own fear, anger and desperation. The last one should be a pretty obvious sign that this fight is over. You can't beat me.'' I stated and got another eye contact from him. ''Genjutsu: Nodono Kawaki. (Illusion Technique: Thirst).'' I whispered and saw the guy collapse on one knee. ''Its over.''

Specter gritted his teeth and I could only shake my head at him. ''I say when this is over! Not you!'' He shouted and took the same knife he used to stab himself and stabbed his other arm, again. My eyes widened at his stupidity. There's no way he'll live after this and my Genjutsu was broken, again!

''Seems to me like you signed your own death warranty.'' I said with slight remorse in my voice. I didn't know why I felt like that, but I did. I could only look at Specter when he sucked the blood from his body and made the same disc with a pained expression. ''So that's your choice, ne?''

''This time you won't get away from me!'' Specter shouted and tossed the discs with a loud scream. ''Let's double the fun!''

''As you wish, Specter.'' I said with a monotone voice that made him even more mad at me. As the disc got close to me, I used my Body Flicker and reappeared further away from the rooftop I occupied seconds ago.

In his anger and already weakened body. Specter had trouble finding me and wasn't focusing until he fully stood up. The guy was forcing himself above limits, which was admirable as it was stupid. He found me again and motioned the discs towards me. I took a steady stance and ran away from the chasing death projectiles that were eager to slice me.

''Give me a break! Not this stupid routine again.'' Specter shouted in frustation as I continued dodging his attack. I glared at him and really felt sorry for him. The Devil Fruit, Power Circulator, heat and thirst. The guy was plainly said: killing himself for his superiors.

_''Let's see how he like this then.''_ I though and used Shunshin on the opposite end of the street Specter was. Glaring at him again, I ran at the guy with the ever growing smirk.

''Please, can't you think and come up with something different?'' Specter mocked me. Once again ignoring him, my hands went into five fast hand seal and clapped my hands together. ''Praying for your death are we?''

''Raiton: Raikyū! (Lightning Release: Lightning Ball!).'' I shouted and opened my palm where a ball of compressed lightning appeared between my palms. Seeing Specters shocked face, I narrowed my eyes at him and threw the ball near his foot.

*BOOM!*

The Lightning Ball exploded, creating a dust around us and obscuring our visions. I used my Body Flicker to escape to the nearest rooftop and saw the red discs vanishing inside the cloud of dust. I didn't have much time to sigh as I saw Specter jump high up from the dust cloud and began to panic. I felt my muscles were straining from the huge amount of chakra I used today, but the option of taking a break wasn't on my schedule and jumped after Specters rising form.

''Where the hell is he?'' Specter asked aloud, not noticing that I was right above him.

''Right here!'' I said to his fearful expression as I made a slight forward spin with my body and raised my right foot high. ''Lacerta! (The Lizard!)'' I shouted my attacks name as my heel connected to Specters head and sent him carreering down to the dispersed dust cloud. Me, on the other hand, crashed on the street as my legs were about to give up. My left eye was now throbbing in pain and my body was extremely exhausted. Shaking my head, I looked at Specter who miraculously stood up. What made my eyes go wide were the red discs closing onto his exposed back. ''Hey! Watch out!'' I tried to warn him, but only got a scoff from him.

''Like i'm gonna fall for your cheap tricks again!'' Specter angrily shouted at me, but the buzzing noises made him turn around and widened his eyes.

*SLASH!*

I could only look in horror as the mercenary was vivisected by his own attack. Since there was no one to control the Homing Discs, the attack exploded into a shower of blood. I though that those too were dangerous and jumped inside a building through a window. And boy was I right. I heard sizzling noises outside indicating that something or someone was being eaten by the acidic property of Specters attack.

''That fool...'' I mumbled and rapibly breathed in and out. ''This has got to be my record today. Last time I used this much was 8 months ago.'' I wheezed out and closed my eyes. The stingy feeling in my left eye eased up a lot and I tried to calm my rigid chakra pathway system. ''I guess a small rest won't hurt a soul.'' I said and tried to think of Masters instructions on advanced meditation. _''Look deep withing yourself, consentrate on the strenght that gives you the will to survive, harness it and shut the world.''_ Corny? Yes. But it worked.

**Alubarna Center/East Block**

**Market District: Battle on Main Street**

**Victor: Ezekiel.**

|Flashback, Before invading Alubarna|

We were currently hiding behind rocks near Alubarna as we tried to come up with a good plan to barge into Alubarna.

''WHAT? You're putting me with Eyelashes!'' Usopp shrieked at me and Sanji about our plan. ''But he is a camel! Don't underestimate how strong I am!''

_''I'm not. You _are_ weak.''_ I heard Eyelashes mumble and smiled that I could finally understand the creature.

''You just don't have any luck drawing straws.'' Sanji said to the pleading sharpshooter. ''Quit complaining.''

Usopp then pointed his finger at me. ''And why does Ezekiel have to go alone? He might need my help!''

''I have Angel here.'' I scrathed my partner under her scaly chin. ''She'll cover for me, right.''

_''As long as I get something to eat once this is over.''_ Angel told me and licked my cheek.

''Fine! Fine! I'll do it! But promise me one thing!'' Usopp said, still with the finger pointed at me.

''That would be...?'' I inquired and raised my brow at him.

''If I get into a pinch,'' Usopp said and bowed at me and Sanji. ''Please come and save me.''

''Idiot. I only save ladies.'' Sanji replied and wore his white mantle thats supposed to hide our indentety.

''Sorry. My tracking skills are as good as Zoro's lack of orientation.'' A short 'shut up!' was heard and I waved at the guy to dismiss it. ''Anywho, my plan involves seperating to the far ends of Alubarna gates while me, Angel and Donald-''

''Donald?'' Chopper asked me and I pointed at the sailor Carue of the duck squad. ''Oh.''

''Yeah, i'll try to get as much as attention to myself and try to pick the Agents apart.'' I made a small lie and really felt bad about doing this, but if the guy is dangerous, then it is my responsibility to get rid of him, or her. I shook my head at the thought and put the mantle on.

''Everyone, thank you.'' Vivi thanked us and I smiled at the worrisome Princess.

''Think nothing of it.''

''It's a little early for thanks.'' Zoro voiced out.

''That's right.'' Nami said and winked at Vivi. ''And if you want to thank pirates, show us the goods.''

I sighed at that and was about to say something more when Usopp beat me to it. ''How much do you plan on squeezing out of this country!''

''She want's to drive this country into a 100-year long recession.'' I chuckled and imagined this countries people walking with a cane, all thristy and starving with Nami laughing at them from a rich mansion. ''How evil...''

''Your one to talk.'' Nami grumbled at me and poked my chest. ''You robbed a whole casino and won't even tell me how much you took from there.'' She tried to mellow me by pressing herself close to me and fluttering her eyelashes. ''Please~ tell me how much you took.'' I rolled my eyes at her antics. ''I promise to be a good girl.''

It was then that I gave the navigator a look. ''Seven.''

''Seven?'' Nami looked at me and took a step back.

''Seven.''

''Seven what?''

''Seven.''

''700 million beli?''

''Seven.''

70 million?''

''Seven.''

''7 million?'' I shook my head this time as repeating the same word/number was getting on my nerves. ''What! Is it more or less?''

''That's all i'm going to tell you.'' I said with a huff and turned away from her.

''C'mon~!'' Nami whined and I found it was funny seeing the usual tempremental girl act like a certain Captain. After staring at me for sometime, she huffed with a pout and grabbed my arm. ''Fine then, but I want to talk with you.''

I was startled when she pulled me far away from the prying eyes and ears, but complied with the navigator. Stopping she looked around my shoulder at the guys and behind her. I sweatdropped at her behaviour. _''Since when did she get so, paranoid?''_

''I want to ask you a favor.'' Nami said and looked me in the eyes. I nodded at her, not sure what to say as she sometimes averted her eyes from mine. ''Do you mind... uhm... if you'd...''

''Aren't we shy.'' I chuckled and got hit by in the shoulder. ''Just kidding. Tell me what's in your mind. I try not to laugh.''

''Try?'' Nami looked at me skeptically with a cute raised brow.

''You'll never know.'' I shrugged and saw her mimic my movement.

''I was wondering if you'd help me with my fighting skill.'' Nami sincerely asked me... well begged would be the right term here as she held her hands in a prayer. ''I really need your help. Please, help get stronger.''

I warmly smiled at her and I saw myself there just for a second. I remember I got a lot of compliments from my senpais that me and Master were like two peads in a pod. _''If I were Master now, what would he do?''_ I though a bit and mentally snapped my fingers. ''Why?'' I asked and tried to study the girl in front of me.

''I have this Clima Tact Usopp made for me, but I still need combat experience with it.'' Nami tried to explain. She was about to say more when I held my hand and stopped her,

''Why do you need combat experience?''

''Well, for starters, i'm not a fighter. I've got great style and i'm cute, but...'' I chuckled at her a bit to make a tad bit difficult for her. ''...but...'' She hesitated a bit and I understod her perfectly. What made me sad was that she gave up in mid sentence and lifted her chin to look at me. ''I need to be strong enough that I won't get in the way.''

''And how do I fit in here?'' I asked with a warm smile.

''Are you kidding me? I can't ask the other guys how to fight with a bō staff. Ace stated that you qualify as our weapons expert and I thought you know how to help me.'' Nami said and I could feel a small amount of pride in me that she held the eye contact. Master said that eyes are the windows to ones soul and I just saw hers. ''Were not like you guys,'' She continued and gave her a nod. ''Your strenghts are more like a monster's than a human's. Your strong enough to beat anyone with your own raw power. But... me and Usopp don't have your powers. We're normal people. Once a battle starts, we'll be too scared to do anything. We'll get in your way because we can't protect ourselves. So if people like _us_ want to fight, we need to get stronger!''

_''She certainly got guts, i'll give her that.'' _I inwardly grinned at her determination and truly understod what Master saw in me when he took me under his wings.

''I want to be able to fight on my own! Give me that power!'' Nami shouted at me with conviction that left me to think about this.

''The fights about to start. I can't just wave a magic wand and sprinkle fairy dust on you to give you that power.'' I said with a sigh and felt beating myself for saddening the girl. After few seconds of silence, I closed my eyes. ''Yes.''

''Y-yes?'' Nami slightly stuttered and opened my eyes to look at her.

''I'll train you once this is over.'' I nodded at Nami and saw her scowl at me.

''I smell a 'but' in here.''

I couldn't help it and grinned at her. ''Oh, so we have a fast learner eh? Good, you picked that up. I'll train you on one condition.'' Nami tensed a bit at what I said. Chuckling, I gently tapped her nosetip with my finger with each word. ''You. Owe. Me. A. Date.''

If I didn't made her day before, I sure as hell made it now as she let out the biggest smile today and glomped at me. The force was enough for Angel to lose her grip on me by the small thud and the growl I heard.

''Yes! I accept! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!'' Nami said between smooches on my cheek with one near my mouth. I was blushing furiously and heard her giggle at me. Huffing, I turned my head away from her so as to save whatever manliness I had in me. I felt something pulling my collar and saw it was Nami fixing hood on my head. I kinda felt relieved as she was also blushing and determinetly looked into my eyes. ''Your the best! I promise I won't let you down!'' That said, the Straw Hat navigator ran back towards our temporary resting/planning area..

I was left there dumbfounded and rubbed my wet cheek ''I got a date.'' I mumbled with small smile. ''I got a date.''

_''Yeah, yeah. Congratulation.'' _Angel growled, but I could avert my eyes from my palm i held in front of me.

''I got a date with Nami.''

_''I saw it.''_ A tick mark appeared on Angels scaly head.

''I got a da-!''

*SMACK!*

_''Say the D-word, one more time. Your won't live long enough to meet the human female.''_ The frustation on her voice was evident and I gulped a with a rapid nod.

''There you are. What took you so long?'' Sanji inquire, but I could detect that he was closely studying me and tried to figure out what happened with me and Nami back there. Rubbing the back of my head with a sheepish grin. I came with an excuse that I thought i'd never use.

''Sorry, I got lost on the path of life.''

|End Flashback|

Twitching my eyes for a second. I fluttered them open and gazed at my surroundings like the good Shinobi I am. _''Oh yeah. I'm in someones house.''_ I thought to myself and blinked. ''I hope there's food in here.'' I tried to get up, but quickly collapsed back to my spot next to glass shards from the window I broke. ''Itai, itai!'' My back was killing me and I felt that i'm currently suffering from a massive concussion and chakra exhaustion. Taking a deep breath, I gazed to my left and saw a chair close to me that I can use as a support. Crawling towards it, I hoisted myself up with a effort, but unfortunately for me, the damn thing collapsed on itself and my face made a dent with the floor beneat me.

_''If I ever find the guy who designed this chair. I will personally see to it that he or she will sleep with the fishies.'' _I groaned and painfully stood up again by using my own hands and legs. Blinking, I tried to compose myself from the dizziness and limped to the next room where I found the kitchen. Smirking, I went to the refrigerator and opened it.

''NANI! Where's all the food?'' I screamed and kicked the cooling closet. ''Ouch, ouch! Don't kick when your hurt dumbass!'' After scolding myself, I opened the huge cabinet next to the refrigerator and deadpanned at it. ''Lucky Charms... woop-de-fucking-doo. How am I supposed to eat that without milk!'' I looked at the nearby family photo and glared at it. ''No man nor woman leaves a cereal alone without its milk. Heathens!''

Few minutes of cursing later, I went outside and the first thing I saw now was the bloodied street and the huge sandstorm in the middle of Alubarna. Looking to my left, I gringed at the sight of Specter. ''Damn, your all over this place.'' I then noticed my bad pun and smacked my head upside down. ''Oh my god, that was a pun.'' Shaking my head, I took a handful of Lucky Charms and stuffed it in my mouth. With a groan, I took my way to Alubarna through the rooftops and knocked out random people on the way there.

_''Damn old senile never told me that the 'will' or 'strenght' was actually called chakra. I forgot how people back home use that stuff like a damn drug.''_ I shook my head to get rid of the thought and accelerated a bit. Tapping my katana, I felt that i'll be needing her assistance today, depending on whom I encounter this time. ''I hope the others are alright. Speaking of others, where the hell is that reptile when you need her.'' Just then, something told me to take a quick step back. Complying, I was saved from being clobbered by the lizard who growled at me.

_''There you are! Do you know how worried I was? I thought you were dead or worse?''_ Angel screamed at me and I had to flinch back at her voice.

''What's worse than death?'' I asked Angel in the middle of her rant of me being stupid.

Atleast I got her to shut for few seconds. _''Forget it. Just wanted to tell you that your arrogant, dumbass moron of a partner.''_

''I can live with that.'' I shrugged, but it was obvious that wasn't what she wanted to hear and tailwhipped the back of my head. ''Fine... I am.'' I glared at her and stuffed my mouth with Lucky Charms. ''I want milk.''

_''Turn left, there's someone there.'' _Angel nudged my cheek and pointed to said direction with her tongue. It looked pretty cool to me. Smiling at my sugary cereal, I sealed it in my wristband and eagerly waited for the day i'll devour it.

''I wish I had a tongue like that.'' I said with a pout. ''The amount of people I could scare with that would be limitless.'' Taking a deep breath. I upped my speed and saw something _very _intresting. Robin had the King of Arabasta restrained and were conforted by the Marines. ''This should be good.'' I said and began to eavesdrop on them.

''This is a dangerous place to be waiting, isn't it, Miss Marine.'' Robin said with the ever present monotone voice. I looked at the person she mentioned and mentally groaned at the sight. ''Let me through. I'm in a hurry.''

''Tashigi.'' I never really liked her as a character, but I guessed that i'm being too judgemental on her. But all her weirdness aside, she's really funny.

''I can't let you pass! An injured soldier told me everything that's happening in Alubarna!'' Tashigi shouted and pointed at the ragged figure of Cobra. ''Just who do you think that person is!''

''Well, it doesn't matter who he is. I hate anyone involved with the Goverment.'' Robin said with a growing scowl on the Marines. I always thought she had better self-control on her emotions, but certain people might break that barrier and i'm no different with that. ''If you won't allow me to pass...'' She let the warning hang in the air.

''I have no intention of letting you pass!'' Tashigi shouted defiantly.

''If that's the case, I'll have to kill you all.'' Robin spoke coldly.

I raised my eyebrow at that. _''Does she know i'm tailing them? Unlikely, but still a possibility.''_ I shook my head as I first though that she's a sensor-type, but what would the odds be? She did distinguish me and and the clone back in Rain Dinners. _''Lucky shot.''_

''Wait, Marines! It does not matter what happens to me! The Palace Square where the rebellion has erupted is going to be engulfed in an explosion at exactly 4:30! You must stop it!'' Cobra shouted at the Marines. I felt my heart skip there for a second when that bomb came to my mind, but managed to shook the thought away.

_''The others will get through that, but I should probably lend my hand.''_ I thought about the bomb and where its hidden. I couldn't remember the location of it and decided to see if Robin 'accidentally' mentions it before I make a clone. _''I better get a sane one this time.''_

''W-what!'' Tashi checked the clock in her pocket and widened her eyes. ''In seven minutes!''

''The lives of 1,000,000 of my people are at stake!'' Cobra pleaded.

''But...'' Tashigi thought about it and made a eye contact with the King. Or so it looked like from where I was hiding from the rooftops. ''If so, we shall help you _and_ stop the bombing!''

''Wait! This woman is-!'' Cobra tried to reason with Tashigi, but went to deaf ears as the Marines took their sloppy sword stance.

''Ready!'' Tashigi shouted and got her affirmative from her suborbinates.

''Don't get in my way. Treinta Fleur...'' Robin said and called her attack where multiple arms sprouted around the Marines neck behind Tashigi. ''...Strangle!'' I could hear the Marines being suffocated by the arms and cringed at the sight.

''An ability!'' Tashigi stated the obvious.

I saw Robin was getting impatient and raised her voice a peg or two. ''I said I was in a hurry, didn't I! Don't anger me any further!''

_''She _really_ wants to see that Poneglyph.''_ I blinked with a slight fearful look. I don't want to get that kind of massage treatment anytime soon.

''S-Sergeant Major! This woman is Nico Robin!'' A random Marine yelled. I was slightly surprised that Tashigi got promoted, but it was to be expected when Smoker-chan's not around. ''I'm positive its her! Captain Smoker ordered me to dig up her wanted poster! This woman, twenty years ago, she had a worldwide famous bounty placed upon her! I even remember the newspaper article. The incident where six Marine battleships were sunk by an eight year-old girl! The Goverment proclaimed her a first-class threat, and placed a 79,000,000 Beli bounty on her! After that, she disappeared without a trace.''

I was about to make a witty comment on that when a strong Killing Intent flooded the streets. Looking at the source it came from. I curiously stared at Robin who shook with rage and anger.

''STOP YOUR BABBLING! Will you let me pass? Or do you all want to die? WHICH WILL IT BE!'' Robin yelled and I was beginning to be much more apprehensive at her than a minute ago. I didn't know if it was my masochistic side kicking me, but I wanted to find out if I can get a rise out of the usually stoic woman.

_''But the story of an eight year-old girl destroying battleships? That's a lot of bullcrap to me and i'm beginning to doubt about the IQ level of the average OP character. Who the f*ck believes that? Its like me saying i'm going to be a Hokage, which will never happen.''_ I shook my head and listened Tashigi giving orders to her suborbinates to take everone to the Square and stop the bombing. There was a small protest, but Tashigi got her orders through their heads. _''She does have that snappiness these tempremental women have.''_

After the Marines scurried out, the street was free for Tashigi, Robin, the restrained Cobra and the hidden Angel and me.

''Now, let him go!'' Tashigi ordered again, but this time at Robin. She took her katana Shigure and resumed her stance.

''I said not to get in my way!'' Robin shouted and crossed her arm to prepare her attack. 2 arms started to grow from Tashigi's shoulders where her mouth was shut. And two other snatched her katana and held it against her throat.

_''She's vicious, I like that.'' _Angel said with a nod. I shook my head at her and watched the event continue below me. I felt sorry for Tashigi as her eyes were filled with fear. She must be inexperienced about the whole death thing in this world. Robin sighed and waved her hand to dismiss the arms.

''As I said before, I am in a hurry.'' She said with pity in her voice. If that small growl that escaped from Tashigi's throat was any indication. She didn't like being pitied by criminals. Taking her katana from the ground, Tashigi charged at Robin. What happened next could be described as ruthless and cruel act of violence when arms sprouted from Tashigi's knee and bent in backwards. There was a lot of screaming on her part and it was admirable to watch her still trying to stop Robin from going further.

''I wont... let you go...''

''How many times must you face me until you're satisfied?'' Robin guestioned. With a wave of her hand. The arms started to sprout again and strangle Tashigi, leaving her squirming on the street as she and the King resumed their walk. With a shake of my head at the downed Marinette. I leaped from building from building and caught up with the Cobra and Robin duo.

_''It was intresting to watch, but all good things must come to an end.''_ I thought and kept my sharingans active so I could study Robin a bit more. So far she's been acting much more calmer than a minute ago and I felt that I could ease up a bit. _''So far so good. Either she didn't notice me or the woman's toying with me here.''_

Shruggin, we eventually reached the West of the Royal Palace's Tomb Area. The whole place was awesome and I instantly took a liking at the structure and architectures around me. What I didn't like was that there wasn't that many hiding spots and I had to take a distance from my targets. They talked a bit and I saw Cobra walking towards a statue with the 'sacred' Sea Cat I used to chase when we were about to arrive in Arabasta. Pushing the thing from the side, there was a light rumbling noise around the place. I closely looked where the King was and blinked when a hidden stairwell was visible to me.

Without wasting any time. They both walked downstairs and kept talking about the Poneglyph on their way down. I was miffed that I still didn't know about the location of the hidden bomb. I knew now would be too late to send a clone to help, but I had faith in them. They managed in the anime, they'll manage now.

_''Intresting.''_ Angel gazed around. The lizard was surprisingly silent for now. Until her eyes widened and looked behind us. _''Quick! Hide!''_

Not one to argue with her. I ran behind a random statue while gazing over my shoulder. My eyes narrowed as Crocodile strutted towards the stairwell like he owned the place. The guy didn't notice anything about his surroundings and vanished from my sight in a dust of sands.

''Phew! If I had to fight the guy, I wouldn't make it.'' I wiped the sweat off my forehead. My heart rate was skyrocketing and I could feel my breathing was getting heavier. ''Dammit, i'm running low.'' A rapid of sluggish footsteps was heard behind me. I tensed and began to finger my katana incase Crocodile did notice me. _''Don't let him see me! Don't let him see me!''_

''Maybe i'm a little tired.'' A familiar voice said to himself, closely followed by a small 'thud' indicating that said person lost its balance. I tried to find the person until my eyes landed on Luffy.

''The fuck...'' I scratched my head. Walking over to the prone form of Luffy. I grew a tick mark over my head. ''We have less than 6 minutes before this whole place is reduced to ashes and your sorry ass sleeps?''

_''What should we do now?'' _Angle asked me and kept staring at Luffy.

''Bite his ass cheek off.'' I bluntly replied and got a grin from the sharp fanged lizard. ''The left one, please.''

*CHOMP!*

''Itai!'' Luffy screamed from the top of his lungs and started to run around like a headless monkey with a lizard trying to get a bite out of his butt.

''Hahahaha!'' I started to roll on the ground while holding my stomach from the constant laughing. Wiping off the tear stains in my eyes, I looked at Luffy rubbing his butt. His eyes eventually landed on me and blinked a twice.

''Ah! Ezekiel! Where's Crocodile!''

''You mean to tell me that you lost your opponent.'' I said with sarcasm in my voice. I instantly regretting saying that as Luffy began gave me a small version of his fights with the Shichibukai. He then stared at me questioningly and tilted his head.

''What happened to you? You look beaten.''

Another tick mark appeared on my forehead from the dumb question. Standing up, I motioned him to follow me. ''After my fight, I was tired and had to take a long break to replenish my reserves. I don't know how much I've slept, but I was on my way to search for our nakama when Robin...'' I said and got a blank look from Luffy. ''...Ms. Allsunday...'' Still nothing got through his thick head. ''...the hot woman with the white coat and hat.'' Luffy made a 'oooh' sound and nodded. ''I saw her holding Vivi's father as a hostage and followed them here.''

''Can you fight?'' Luffy inquired.

''No. I'm good enough for support, but that's it.'' I replied to him and wondered about the strange question he made.

''Good.'' Luffy grinned whilst cracking his knuckles. ''I want to wrap this up myself. Don't interfere.''

''Knock yourself out.'' I grinned back at him. ''But what happened to you?''

Luffy made a small thinking pose as we ran down the stairs. ''My body stopped moving all of a sudden. Then I got tired so I had to take a nap. And now, I feel better, so...'' He was silent for two three seconds when the guy sprinted forward. ''THE CROC! I'M GONNA KICK HIS ASS!''

''Oi! Oi! Wait a second!'' I shouted after him. Suddenly the whole place started to shake and rocks began to fall off

''CROCODILE! WHERE ARE YOU!''

''That guy...'' The stairs ended after our long jog down. I saw Luffy stretch towards a pillar and hopped from rubble to rubble. Taking a deep breath to calm myself. I went and followed the rubber-dumbass. ''Angel, can you tell the others that i'm fine. Tell 'em that i'm making sure that Luffy doesn't get himself killed.''

_''And whom shall I rely this message?'' _Angel asked without any of that protests or nagging.

''Tony-kun can translate that. After that, your free to either search for us or wait for me to get there.'' I felt she gave me a stern glare. ''And i'll get you something meaty to eat.'' Angel grinned at me and tailwhipped the back of my head.

_''Just in case.''_ That said, she started to chomp the floor, leaving a decent sized hole in it.

''Your trapped, croc!'' Luffy announced after he smashed the wall open. I fluidly landed next to him and observed the scenery while ignoring Crocodile insulting Luffy.

''Why did you come here?'' Cobra questioned us. Nodding to Luffy, I made my way to the tired Cobra. ''You could have survived, why?''

''My Captain has a fetish for troubles.'' I smiled at Cobra and checked if the man was injured.

''Captain?''

''Just your friendly neighbourhood pirates. Forgive my language, but you look like shit.'' I said and rolled up the guys sleeves. Ignoring the loud crashed Luffy made by connecting his fist with Crocodiles head. I rummaged through my pouch where I retrieved a roll of bandages. Patching the King up, I went to the other human while Cobra kept gaping at Luffy vs. Crocodile duel. ''Uhm, damn...'' I began and inspected the huge gash on Robins back. ''Your even worse.''

The scary woman chuckled. ''I've been better.'' Rolling my eyes at her. I sat next to the prone, bleeding ex-Agent. ''Is this what people call karma?''

''Good or Bad?'' I asked with a side clance.

''Bad.''

''I would say that you brought this upon yourself, but that would too vague. Even for my taste. Many would say that you tempted fate for untrivial and selfish desires and paid for messing with it. I would say thats bunch of bullcrap to say to any human being. Frankly, I can't be judgemental about your choice in life.'' I looked at her, flinching a bit at the sight. ''I can't say if what you did now was either smart or stupid. I guess it was both – smoopid.'' I refered to her attacking Crocodile. Hell, I wouldn't. I would probably spawn clones as a distraction while running away.

She giggled a bit which sounded painful to me. ''What's the point. I have no reason to live anymore.''

''Cut the crap!'' I hissed at her. ''Watch the fight and you'll understand why life isn't always such a pest.'' Glaring at the dagger next to her, I narrowed my eyes when her hands were twitching. ''And if you think that toothpick will help you...'' I left the warning hang in the air.

So the fight continued. From Luffy beating Crocodile to where the rubberman lost his balance from being poisoned. And to where Crocodile said he installed a timer in the bomb. I couldn't bring myself to care since this whole arc is about to end. It might sound cold, but I really have had it now with this country. I have pressing things in my mind. The first being those organizations who can't decide wether they want me dead or alive. Was the cube in my head really a Poneglyph to ANOTHER weapon of mass destruction. Where can I get some milk.

_''Yeah, _really_ important.''_ There was a sudden rumbling noise. A thought came to me then when a stone hit my head. ''So the bomb was detonated?'' I directed my question to Robin, who, for lack of better words, lost her consciousness from the blood loss. Sighing, I began to patch her up with whatever roll of bandages I had left. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy since I had to roll the bandage around her torso and the purple cleavage-exposing top had to go off. So, I had to use a clone to assist me, who to my surprise, was shy as hell. Atleast he didn't peek or I was sure once she finds out that I.. _''My clone.''_ ...peeked on her. My backs gonna break like a shard of ice cooled glass thrown into a damn cliff with spikes.

''Are you sure she won't kill you?'' My clone asked shyly as I gave him a critical look.

''Fuck no. If she does something like that, i'll have her know that I have a son that will avenge me.''

''You do realise that you don't have a son.''

''Nah, but imagine it. Me, lying on my deathbed next to my son. I weakly reach out to him, grab him but his collar, and say: ''Avenge me!'' And then i'm dead.'' I sagely nodded at me ingenious plan. ''I might not like her, but even I can be a human.'' The clone nodded and vanished in a cloud of smoke. Shaking my head to get rid of the short memory intake. I took another spot on top of a rubble and just saw Luffy collapse on himself.

''At long last... the new era had begun.'' I heard Crocodile celebrate in his 'victory'. He then turned to me and gave a amusing smirk. ''So you've survived against The Purifier? I think a small congratulations are in order, Mr. Vane.''

''Please,'' I returned my smirk at him. ''Call me Mr. Snugglebottom.''

Crocodile narrowed his eyes, but shook his head. ''It was you who stole my money.'' He stated the obvious with a small shrug. ''It just money. There's more where that came from. Same goes for those 'Sweepers Agents. Their as useless as they come.''

''I say bring 'em!'' I waved my fist at him.

''Regardless! Today is the day my ambition becomes reality! This country is MINE!'' Crocodile shouted with a crazed look.

''Did it ever occur to you that maybe, _just maybe_, if you're nice to people, they might _let_ you rule their country?'' I got a glare from the King and frantically waved my arms in front of me. ''Just a thought. Your cool too.''

There were few panting noises heard near us. Searching for its source, I smiled at Luffy who finally stood up and made a small speech about that he can't beat him.

''Are those the only words you can squeeze out? A bluff from a dog about to meet his death. How fitting. Groundless!'' Crocodile lost it there.

_''Just like Specter. May his soul rest in peace.''_

''I am the man who will become the Pirate King!'' Luffy made a strong statement about his dream. And I have the front row seat watching him achive that. Summoning my Lucky Charms, I began to eat the dry cereal while watching the fight. Gotta say, it was much better seeing from here than in TV.

[Insert Luffy vs. Crocodile fight]

''Gomu Gomu no Storm!''

''Desert La Sparda!''

Those two attacks were shouted by their users. As I already knew about the event, it was still awesome. The damn sand reptile was sent way high up throught the underground temple. Sighing in relief that this whole thing is over now. I jumped and grabbed the poisoned Luffy mid-air and set him dow.

''Did I *pant* beat him?'' Luffy asked me. One eye open and the stupid victory grin which I returned.

''Blasted his ugly mutt sky-high!''

''I have a new a order for you. I want you to draw me kicking Crocodiles ASS!''

''Can do!''

''H-hey you,'' Cobra finally made his voice out. The man was silent except the time he peeked at Robin. He was on his knees and gave us a smile. ''My thanks.''

Me and Luffy grinned at him. ''No problem.''

**[To Be Continued]**

Yup, a longer chapter this time for the awesome reviews. Thankfully this will be the last Arabasta arc as I want to speed up the progress here. I got some cool ideas, but i'm a bit tentative about them. The idea of the Devil Fruit came from when I watched Sasuke vs. Danzo match where the warhawk spitted air-bullets like a machine gun. The rest are made up with pure imagination and watching DBZ for 4 hours straight. Manly tears were shed that day.

So yeah, I made an unknown organizations appear with unknown motives. I'll try not to spoil, but they will have their shining moments. I'll try to explain much, much more about Ezekiel's status.

The reason I didn't make Ezekiel stop the bomb would be too easy. I think, but I wanted something different. I have a lot of surprises stored for you guys, but until then, take care!

Oh! thanks again for all those reviews. They helped a lot!

Jutsus used (Those made up and some more at least. The credit goes to VynosNeptune):

Katon: Boukaheki no Jutsu (Fire Release: Fire Wall Jutsu) Rank: C

Description: By performing a few seals, the user can exhale a steady stream of fire creating a wall in front of them and partially surrounding them. It's capable of evaporating water and low level Suiton jutsus, and used as a great defense against physical strikes.

Fūton: Renkūdan (Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet) Rank: C

Description: The user inhales a large amount of air into his chest and then slams his fist into his chest to expel it. To strengthen the attack, the user will imbue chakra into the air. When expelled, it forms concussive spherical projectiles capable of inflicting large damage.

Magen: Onsui Tamashii (Demonic Illusion: Heated Soul) Rank: D

Description: The opponent sudden feels very hot, enough to make them sweat uncontrollably.

Genjutsu: Nodono Kawaki (Illusion Techniques: Thirst) Rank: D

Description: The opponent is overcome by a sudden thirst and will be unable to concentrate fully because of this urge to find food; those who are weak against Genjutsu may even find themselves in a condition where they feel like they are lethargic due to this.

Thats it... OUT! But not before you review... nice and slowly.


	38. Escape from Arabasta!

**Chapter 38: Escape from Arabasta!**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Royal Palace's Tomb Area, Ezekiel's POV]

So, after a lot of arguments between me, Luffy and leave-me-here-I-wanna-die ex-Baroque Agent Robin. We eventually got the hell out of the collapsing tomb. I called dibs on carrying the King. It wasn't like I didn't want to carry Robin, but after she started to ask about the bandages wrapped on her chest. I quickly took the King and bolted the hell out.

Oh, and Luffy already got his antidote too so no worries about that. I was skeptical at first, but let it slide once a rubble fell near my head.

*THUD!*

Blinking, I looked back and saw Luffy passed out in exhaustion. What I found disturbing was that the woman just, vanished. Hell, I didn't even know which direction she took.

''Old man, can you walk?'' I asked the King who nodded at me. Nodding back at him, I set him down and walked towards Luffy. I hoisted him over my shoulder and winced a bit from the contact. _''Man, I really need to up my training a notch or two.''_

''Will he make it?'' Cobra asked and began to rub his arms.

''Don't worry about him. He's way too stubborn to drop dead and die. Right Luffy?'' I jumped a bit and got a muffled noise out of him. ''See?'' The King shook his head in amusement. We both stared at the dark clouds 'crying' down on us. ''I hate the rain, brings back awful memories.'' I mumbled and walked towards the city where the rest of the Straw Hats were walking towards us. ''Yo! Seems like you guys made it!''

''See, I told you he's alive.'' Usopp told Chopped who ran at me and glomped my leg. I raised my leg and gave Chopper a throught look. He looked at me with a nearly tear-filled eyes which looked so cute that I had to restrain myself and cuddle the chibi-reindeer to death.

''Where were you! I could find your scent anywhere! I thought something bad happened to you!''

I blinked at the kid. Gazing up, I looked at the crew with the same expression. Thankfully it was Sanji who explained me about the war, bombs, timers and end of the war itself. After that, they began to get worried about me after Chopper couldn't find me anywhere.

''...and that pretty much sums it up. What happened to your arm?'' Sanji refered to my burned right arm and torso. Or so I thought.

''My enemy happened.'' I bluntly replied.

''I'll bet that stinged a bit.'' Zoro said. I narrowed my eyes at him.

''Your one to talk about injuries. Look at yourself! You've got more blood on you than an axe murderer. You'd be arrested if you were to approach a child looking like that.''

''At least I didn't blow up 1/6 of the city...'' The swordsman grumbled. I widened my eyes and gave the King a sheepish grin. I was _really _lucky that he didn't hear that. Last I need is a King who screams at me for destroying that much of the city. The repairs gonna cost a loooot of money. ''Who's the ossan?'' Zoro pointed at Cobra who stood next to me.

''Papa!'' A voice shouted out. Looking at the person, it revealed to be Vivi running towards us. ''Everyone!''

''Papa?'' Sanji questioned.

''5...4...3...2...1...'' I counted out until the meaning of the word got to Sanji.

''VIVI-CHAN'S FATHER!''

''You're the King?'' Zoro asked.

''Yes, I was prepared for death, but these two saved me.'' Cobra said as I set Luffy down next to a wall. ''After your friend here fought with Crocodile, they carried us back up to the surface. It is difficult to conceive of one possessing so much power.''

''And we don't have to worry about that poison?'' Usopp asked me after Chopper checked the Captain for any injuries.

''Nah, he's already taken the antidote. No worries there. Stuff him with meat and he's fixed.''

''So Vivi, hurry up and go already.'' Zoro said as he leaned against a nearby wall with his swords leaning onto him. ''Get back to the Square.''

''That's right. The country's rebellion is finally over. But without the words of the King and Princess to guide it, it won't be a real ending.'' Our sharpshooter said. I merely shrugged and was wondering where the hell did Angel go.

''Then, we should all-'' Vivi said and gave us all a smile. But we had to explain to her that we were just some ragtag pirates and that we're not going to mess with politics and such.

''I'm hungry.'' Chopper said as he started to roll bandages around my arm. I already took my shirt off long ago as the thought that it contained human saliva disgusted me.

''We'll get to the Palace when we're ready. We're exhausted.'' Nami added with a cute shrug. We waited for Vivi to leave with her father with our own smiles. That is until everyone collapsed on their own weight. I gave them a concerned look, but ended up chuckling at them.

_''I did take my rest after all and these guys were running around the city searching for the bomb like headless chickens.'' _I thought to myself. Looking up at the sky again. I closed my eyes, letting the rain wash away the sweat and hopefully the rest of the day._ ''I could've saved him. I didn't want it to end like this.''_

A sudden footsteps broke my thoughts. Opening one eye and saw dozens of Marines marching towards us with Tashigi leading them. I fully turned towards them with a small smile.

''Ezekiel-san.'' Tashigi nodded at me.

''Tashigi-san.'' I replied and motioned to my crew. ''Mind if they take a small nap? It has been a tiresome day and they deserve the rest.''

She started to growl, but to my surprise, it wasn't directed at me. ''Sergeant Major! This is our chance! There's only one of them while the rest are unconscious! Vane is already tired so we can take them-!'' The random Marine stopped when Tashigi gave them orders not to arrest us.

''Right now, I will not allow anyone to lay a single hand on them!''

''B-But why! We've got them all here! Aren't we trying to arrest them!''

''Oh... Aren't we cocky. That makes it 8, Shigi-chan.'' I wagged my fingers at them. I was actually refering that to another reason why I didn't join the Marines and yes, my father is one of those reasons. Tashigi glared at me and kept gazing at mine and Zoro's swords. ''Tell me, how's Shelly?''

I didn't expect her to brighten up a bit when I asked her that. But was disappointed when I didn't get any answers from her. Glaring at me one more time, she made a strong turn. ''We're leaving, now.''

''H-Hai!''

''Tell Shelly to keep a good eye on my present!'' I waved at them. Without thinking, I took a step back and let Angel fly past my head. ''So now's the time to make an appearance?''

_''S-Sorry...''_ Angel weakly replied when she landed. I flinched a bit as I thought that I was a bit rough on her. I sat down and scooped her on my lap. She curled a bit to make herself comfortable without ripping my pants. I started to gently pet her which resulted her to sigh. _''I found my family.''_

''Really?'' I was about to cheer, but knew better than to do that. She was sad and there was more to it than that.

_''Yes, but... can I talk about it later?''_

''Um, sure, why not.'' I didn't know what she wanted to talk about, but I knew it had something to do with her family and that it was important. I sincerely hoped that it wasn't anything horrible.

Summoning a quick shuriken, I threw it next to a Royal Guard's head who fell down and whimpered. Giving them a cold look, they took a step back and held their arms in a dismissing manner.

''W-We w-wer-were o-ordered by the K-King to help y-your comrades i-i-inside.'' A guard who I assumed was in charge stuttered. Lowering my hand, I gave them a nod and walked towards Nami. With a small effort, I picked the navigator in my arms. It was amusing to see her nuzzle her head against my chest. It reminded me of a cat I used to like back home.

_''Burglar Cat.''_ I thought and chuckled at the nickname. The guards picked the rest of the crew, but were still tense when ever I gave them a glance. _''I guess that's why I never made friends.''_

_''Hey,''_ Angel nudged my leg from the ground. Since I didn't have my robe on, she refrained from climbing on to my back without hurting me. _''I don't feel like eating or seeing people now. Can you meet me at your peoples ship? Preferably three days from now.'' _I was about to say more, but Angel beat me to it. _''I've already memorized your scent, so it won't be a problem to find you.''_

Still confused, I nodded at her. ''Sure, if you say so, I'll try and bring some snacks while I'm at it.'' That said, Angel dug a hole in the ground and left. _''I still forgot to ask her how she does that.''_

We, as in me and the guards who picked up the males + reindeer, eventually got inside the palace where each of them were set in a comfy bed. I gently set Nami on her bed and took one next to her. I should've know better than to do that. The second my back and head touched the soft bed. An unbearable pain shot throught me and I had to close my mouth so as to not scream.

_''Damn it that hurts!'' _I thought and opened my eyes. It now occured to me that it was nighttime, which left me pretty confused about my circadian rhythm. _''Well i'm not going to get any sleep now that's for damn sure.''_

''Ezekiel-san?'' A voice called to me. I stood up from my bed and saw Vivi leaning against the door with a concerned look. ''Are you alright?''

''I've had better days.'' I weakly replied. ''You?''

''Peachy.'' Vivi giggled.

''That's my line.'' I gave her a light glare which turned into a small chuckle. ''Can't sleep huh?''

Vivi smiled at me and looked at the window next to her. ''No, I don't want to, I want to watch the rain, just a little longer.''

I shrugged at her. Standing up from my bed, I began to stretch a bit and looked down at myself. I only had my red pants on and blushed slightly. ''You do that, i'll go and take a walk.'' I said and walked towards the door. Opening it, I gave Vivi a small wave and closed the door behind me. Turning around, I saw a person I though i'd never see again. ''Igaram?''

''Ah, Ezekiel-kun.'' The funny-haired man said with a smile. ''How have you been?''

''Forget about my health, what happened to you? I thought you were blown up to pieces.''

Igaram shrugged. ''I guess I had a _Devil's_ luck.''

I rubbed the back of my head with a weak grin. ''I said I was sorry. No need to persecute me about it.''

''I'm not. I actually wanted to thank you. For taking care of Vivi-sama.'' Igaram said. ''I brought few clothes for you and your nakamas. But seeing you up and around, there's a room with men's clothings about 4 rooms away. Pick something, anything from there.''

''Sounds like a plan to me.'' I replied and walked off. ''Hope we'll get to talk more.'' I saw Igaram nodded and went inside the room Vivi occupied with the sleeping pirates. I began to jog to the room and get myself geared up. I felt ecstatic about the idea of getting new clothes. It was a odd feeling, but it was a welcomed feeling. I thought it was because I have the opportunity to change myself. If only for a moment.

So I opened the door I thought was the room Igaram pointed out. What I saw made a smile appear on my face. There was an enormous amount of silk clothes around and I knew that choosing from them would probably take all night. I wasn't that far from my guess as it appeared to be dawn already.

I eventually decided for a comfortable white pants, dark green high-collared long-sleeved shirt and brown shoes that eerily resemled those converse-shoes Karen once bought me. A thought came to me as I took some bandages I 'confiscated' from Chopper and wrapped them around my ankle and calves. Jumping a bit, I liked the feeling of it and grinned.

_''I still have time to wander around.''_ I thought when a dark chuckle escaped my throat. _''Let's see if this palace has anything fun related stuff on their armory.''_ Just like that, I began my self-proclaimed mission to search for the armory. I knew I still had time. That is 'till Luffy wakes up.

[3 days later]

It was fun while it lasted, but I couldn't find anything worthy around here. _''At least I get to stealth the Palace like I own it. I think I found my calling now: an AnBu. I would seriously kick ass if i'd be in a squad.''_

''There you are!'' Another familiar voice shouted at me. I began to search for it when my eyes landed on a fuming Nami.

''Oh, your awake.'' I stated.

''Its morning.'' She pointed out.

''Well, duh~'' That tone earned me a light punch to my shoulder. I winced from the contanct since that was the spot where I was burned. By acid I might add.

''Did _that_ hurt you?'' Nami asked with a raised brow. I began to pout at her for the cheap shot.

''Yeah, want to kiss it better?'' I blinked at Nami when she actually thought about it.

''Maybe later.'' She said with a light smirk and looked me from top to bottom. ''Where did you get those?'' I pointed at the door that was slightly open. Nami gave me a nod and forcefully grabbed my hand.

''What are you doing?'' I asked and sprinted a bit to catch up to her. Lest the girl pulls it out of my shoulder.

''I need you to help me store some books.'' Nami said dismissingly.

''You do know I need-'' I said, but was interrupted by the girl next to me.

''There should be ink and scrolls lying around.'' Nami told me. I just shrugged and walked past some guards who gave me wary looks. I dismissed it as my imagination running wild. Maybe it was the lack of sleep getting to me.

[Palace Library, Nami's POV]

After I found Ezekiel walking around the palace. We made our way to the library to get me some book for him to store for me. I tick mark appeared on my head when the guards flinched away from us. Or mostly from Ezekiel. I was pretty sure he did something to scare them.

''Is this the place?'' Ezekiel asked as he gazed around the library. ''You know, for a Palace, they really have a shortage when it comes to books. I expected more, but hey, beggars can't be choosers.''

A sigh escaped my lips. ''Just get to work, please.'' I didn't know why I said 'please' and I kinda regretted saying so as he walked closer to me. My face heated up when he gave me one of his looks. A raised brow with mouth slightly to the right. He doesn't show much emotions beside the usual jolliness and constant awareness. ''Either those or he acts like Luffy.''

''What was that?'' It seems that I though out loud and covered my mouth. Ezekiel now had his brows furrowed in deep thought. Another aspect I found odd about him.

''Nothing, it was nothing!'' I raised my voice in panic. I quickly went behind him and pushed my new teacher towards the table where his materials waited for him. He did say he'll teach me how to defend myself. ''I'm not gonna repeat myself. I want the...''

''Sealing scrolls.'' Ezekiel said.

''Yeah, I want those ready now so get to it!'' I sharply told him and felt a pang of guilt. Maybe I was too hard on him. I remember when he snapped at us back in Little Garden for discriminating the giants. A shudder went past my spine when I thought back to it. At first I waved it off as my imagination, but I saw the anger and coldness in his eyes. Added with those red eyes of his, I knew then that judging people at the first glance in his presence would not be a wise thing to do. _''Come to think of it. I don't know much about him. Likes, dislikes and others.''_ I giggled a bit. _''We _do_ have a date, maybe I can find out more about him then.''_

''Something funny?'' Ezekiel asked me. I saw that he already finished with his work and smiled at him.

''Nothing.'' I giggled at his confused face. ''Say, what do you think about this book here?'' I said and held a book about navigation in front of his face. Ezekiel took the book with a very peculiar face.

''100 Ways to Improve Your Navigation?'' He tasted the word a bit. It looked like he just ate a bad food and tried to held it in his mouth so as to not appear impolite. ''Why would you need one?''

''I thought there would be something I could improve a bit.'' I said and tilted my head to the side. A wide grin formed on my lips when I saw him blush. I always thought that he was dense as the rest of the male's on the ship. Beside the obvious Sanji.

''I think your a great navigator.'' Ezekiel said and looked to the side, still with the blush on his face. ''You don't need tips from amateur writers named...'' He fliped the book and stared at the name inscribed on the book. ''...Nadni Leda?''

''You know the writer?'' I asked him and tried to take a peek on the book. I wasn't that lucky when he closed it and made it disappear in a 'puff' of smoke. ''*cough!* *cough!*'' I started to cough from the amount of smoke that rised from his wrist. ''What the hell was that!''

''Nuttin'.'' He said and quickly grabbed another book from the shelf. Opening it, he covered his face and started mumbling. ''...mushrooms are very important for human intestines. It helps reduce-''

''Who's the writer?'' My voice changed into a sweet tone. It didn't take him too long to notice the underlying warning behind as he started to sweat. _''If I don't like the answer, you won't like the repercussion.''_

''Some weird guy I probably met, I dunno.'' He replied to me in a voice which made my fist shake in anger.

''Find anything intresting around here?'' A new voice shook away my short rage aimed at Ezekiel.

Deciding to let the guy go for now. I smiled at Vivi's father who kept looking between me and Ezekiel in amusement. ''There are so many intresting books here! Are you sure I can have these. They look expensive.''

''Yes, of course. I have read them all already.'' Cobra answered me.

''Thank you!'' I beamed at him when I saw another intresting book. This ones about the weathers near Arabasta and its neighbourhood islands. ''I want this one, and that one. Maybe those too, but i'll still take them with me.''

''Why don't you take all of them.'' Ezekiel said after his short conversation with Cobra. I was upset that I didn't hear anything they talked about. Maybe I would've find more about him.

_''I only heard something about Erumalu, green-eye and 'long ago'. Weird.'' _I giggled to myself after a thought came to me. _''I could always _persuade_ him. I'm sure he has a weakness in him somewhere.''_

''I think i'll take my leave here.'' Cobra told us and left us there to blink at him. He then turned back to Ezekiel and gave him a nod. ''I'll see you around.''

''Like wise.'' Ezekiel curtly replied. He had that far away look on his face and I was left staring at him in wonder.

_''He thinks too much.''_ I scowled and walked towards him. Ezekiel obviously didn't notice me until I was inches away from his face. ''Earth to Ezekiel-kun, are you awake?''

''W-wha-wait, huh?'' Ezekiel blinked twice. I giggled when he slowly blushed and averted his eyes from me. It was also then that I noticed that I invaded his personal space.

_''So that's he's weakness. Go figures.''_ I also blushed and tentatively took a step back. ''You zoned out on me.''

''Did I now?'' He rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish grin. ''Sorry about that.''

''Whatever, i'm ready with the books so you can store them now.'' I waved my hand at him in dismissal. Glancing at him, I saw he smiled and performed a deep, elaborate bow, sweeping his right arm over his chest while the other hand was behind his back.

''As you wish your Majesty. Anything else?'' Ezekiel said with a playful smirk.

Deciding to play along, I stood up with an air of pompousness. ''I want you to escort me back to the recuperation room Luffy's being held. And please carry that scroll for me.''

''Consider it done, my Queen.'' We both raised an eyebrow at each other. ''Too much?''

''Too much.'' I stated with a giggle.

''E-Excuse me.'' A guard tried to get our attention. ''I believe this belongs to your friend.'' He said and walked towards Ezekiel. I blinked at the object he gave to him. It was Luffys straw hat.

_''The idiot must've lost it during his fight.''_ I thought with a smile. Looking down, there was another object I wanted to find more about. _''Ezekiel's necklace. He did say it belonged to his Master.''_ I glanced at him, having a small talk with the guard. What I found odd was the annoyed face he had now.

''Have a nice day, Shuriken-san.'' The guard said and bolted out. Blinking, I looked at Ezekiel's deadpanned expression and giggled at it.

''All weirdness aside. I think we should go and see if Luffys woken up.'' Ezekiel said. He walked towards the scroll and did the usual thing with the white smoke. I continued staring at him hoisting the scroll on his shoulder. He winced a bit, but regained his bearings and stared back at me. Apparently he wanted me to stand up and follow him. Blushing that I didn't react sonner. I got up and walked past him.

_''I'd be damned if he sees me flustered because of it.''_ I vehemently thought. His chuckles didn't ease my mind and I felt like hitting something.

[Recuperation Room, Ezekiel's POV]

_''Sweet girl. Tough, smart and pretty.''_ I chuckled at her. Teasing her will now be my first calling now THEN i'll join the AnBu team. Kinda felt bad for her, but hey, that's life.

''WHAT A GREAT NAP!'' Luffy shouted, arms held and and the grin plastered on his face. ''Where's hat? Hat! Where's my hat!'' I sighed and walked towards him with the straw hat in my hand. Setting the hat down on the Captains head and ruffling it, Luffy gave me a big grin. ''Phew, great! Thanks!''

''Don't mention it.'' I waved him off.

''Now i'm hungry.'' Mine and Luffys stomach growled at us. ''Oi! Where's breakfast!''

''I'm so glad, Luffy-san! You've regained your strenght!'' Vivi cheered. I set the scroll on a nearby bed and went to Usopp.

''Say, where's Zoro?'' I looked around for the missing swordsman. A door opened and looking at it, there was Zoro, also in new get ups. ''What the hell! How did you find this place?''

''What are you talking about?''

''I saw you went off training in the morning!''

''I did. I was at the southern gate.''

''Then how come your not lost!''

A tick mark appeared on Zoro's head. ''Are you saying that I can't find my way back?''

''Yes!'' I shouted in relief that he understod. ''If someone gave you a shovel and ordered you to dig a hole. You wouldn't be able to find your way back!''

''Why you-!'' Zoro snarled and grabbed his katana.

''Oh, Zoro! Long time no see!'' Luffy waved at the angry swordman. I on the other hand was laughing my ass off at how easy it is to rile Zoro.

''Ah, HEY! You better not have been out training again!'' Chopper began his argument with Zoro. It was funny seeing the reindeer trying to take responsibilities about our health. He then turned to me, still with the angry face. ''And you should be sleeping! Not wander around!''

''I tried! Isn't that enough!''

''NO! Do you know the risks you carry by not sleeping! Were talking about-!''

''Muscle aching, memory loss, depression, hallucinations, hand tremors, headaches, increased blood pressure, stress hormone levels, risk of diabetes and fibromyalgia. The list goes on and on. I know, I know.'' I said with a shrug and took a great liking to the crews slack-jawed faces.

''You do know its lethal.'' Chopper stated angrily. ''You could die!''

''Yet I didn't. Luffy was out cold for three days.'' I looked at Luffy who blinked at me. ''I'm surprised your not lashing onto us by forcing mashed vegetables down your throat for those days.''

''Yuck! How could you do that to me!'' Luffy shouted. ''I thought we were friends!'' I rolled my eyes at him. Thankfully it was Vivi who explained to him that the guy had to eat something healthy. ''Whatever, so your saying I was sleeping for three days?''

''Pretty much, yeah.'' I nodded, not sure what else to add. We all though sweatdropped by Luffy 'thinking' about something.

''I've missed 15 meals.''

''Why are you so fast at calculating _that_?'' Nami said with her hands on her hips. I would never say it to her, but that made her look more... mature.

_''What the hell am I thinking?''_ I shook my head. I had fun talking with her earlier, but that was way out of topic.

''What's now?'' Sanji asked me. What took me off guard was the concerned look directed at me.

''Just thinking about Daxter and that he's probably destroyed the ship by now.''

He narrowed his visible eye. ''If that's true, i'll have you know that the rodent will end up in the oven.''

''I always wanted to know what he'll taste like. He's orange, so I guess it has something to do with oranges.''

''So the Captain is awake?'' The door opened up and I had to restrain myself from cringing. ''Dinner's in 30 minutes. Hope you don't mind waiting?'' The Igaram-lookalike said. Me and Zoro took a step back from him/her's voice.

''WHA-!''

''Oooh! The Curly Ossan! You're alive!'' Luffy cheered.

''I-I knew you were really into that kinda shit!'' Zoro said.

''I saw you 3 days ago! What happened!'' I shouted with a finger pointed at him/her. At that moment, all my respect for Igaram vanished in thin air.

''No, everyone! This is Terracotta-san. She's Igaram's wife and the Palace's top chef!'' Vivi explained to us, but it was still hard to not see the woman in front of us as Igaram.

''You all took care of Vivi-sama and my husband! I'm very grateful for your deed!''

''You gotta be kidding me. A couple can only be so much alike.'' Zoro said with a gloomy expression, similar to mine now.

''I feel like Déjà vu just kicked me in the balls.''

Terracotta just laughed at us. ''I've heard you eat a lot. Do you think you could snack on this fruit until dinnertime?''

''Okay.'' Luffy said and snatched the huge fruit casked in a heartbeat and made it disappear in his mouth.

''WAS THAT SOME TRICK!'' Me, Zoro and Sanji yelled at him.

''Perhaphs you should look for another magician.'' I said with a glare. Luffy just waved me off, which resulted at me sighing.

''Obachan, i'm gonna eat three days worth of food!'' Luffy told her.

''I was hoping you'd say that! I've been a chef for 30 years! I won't lose to some youngster's stomach, so eat all you can!''

''Really? Seems to me that someone's being underestimated.'' I grinned when a thought came to me. ''Say, Sanji, don't you want to help? A competition or something.'' He was about to reply when Terracotta butted in.

''Please, no. I'd like to beat the brat with my own skills.'' Sanji nodded at her answer. I thought it was probably something between chefs to prove themselves or something.

''Bummer. I would've loved to see a face-off against chefs.'' I said and tapped my finger against my jaw. ''It would certainly bring back memories. Like that cooking show I saw once filmed in the Philippines. Where two chefs would compete against each other to make the best dish, and at the

end, they would cut the loser's head off with a sword. I think the show got cancelled.'' The occupants looked at me with pale faces. Mostly from Nami, Usopp, Chopper and Sanji. ''Good times.''

[The Grand Dining Hall]

After my small slip-up about the scary cooking show. We made our way to the table full of food and other things to eat. By Terracotta's word, we all attacked our foods with gusto.

I was currently sitting next to Chaka. The man was looking at me as I kept stuffing food after food in me. I rarely do something like this, but I was so damn hungry. For the last three days, I kept stealthing around the Palace like a voyeur. Sometimes I snuck in the kitchen and cooked myself something small.

''Cobra-sama, have you heard about the latest news?'' Chaka asked. I mildly listened to it since my plate was empty and made a special request to Terracotta. The King nodded for him to proceed. ''I received reports that the whole Market District was wrecked beyond repair. We must start the place awhole again.''

''What!'' Cobra shouted. I was slowly shrinking in my seat and started to whistle a song. ''My statue?''

''Reduced to rubbles, Sir''

''*Cough!* *Cough!*'' I started to cough and blush in shame. It was my fault. _''Mostly Specters, but still my fault.''_

''Something wrong?'' Cobra asked me in worry. I swiftly started to act confident and shook my head in negative. ''*Sigh* Anything else, Chaka?''

''There was a body sliced and burned beyond recognition. The smell was so horrible that we didn't move it for two days.'' I gulped a bit. The sight was still burned in my mind and I nearly lost my apetite.

_''At least now I know why Chopper couldn't find me.''_

''What kind of a monster did that?'' Cobra asked and I had to give the man some credit. He didn't panic like most would, or so I thought. ''Did you get rid of it?''

''That just it Sir. It was gone the next day we went to investigate.''

I was so close to shout and run from the room in search for the dead Specter. The rest of their conversation went past my ears as I stopped eating. _''But how? Why? I don't get it, _they_ took the body away. Was he still alive? Impossible, I saw him...yeah.''_ I set my fork and knife aside. _''Okay, calm down. How much do you know about them? They had a cause, they appear to hate my guts but still want me to join them for their own benefit. I know that much that they want my eyes, maybe more. They did say that I know the location to a Poneglyph? Why not pester Robin about those, she obviously knows more about them than me.''_

''Ezekiel! Wake up, your food is here! I wanna see the mystery food!'' Luffy shouted, surprisingly after he swallowed his food. Shaking my head, Terracotta was right next to me with a plate full of-.

''Chimichangas! Thanks ma'am! I've been waiting for these!'' I threw my hands in the air. That was a mistake when Luffy stretched his arm and was about to snatch my food. I quickly took the plate and held it away from Luffy. ''Touch it and you die!''

''C'mon! Just one bite!'' Luffy pleaded, but I saw right through him.

''Na-ah! The second I turn my back, the food is gone!'' I said and saw that the rubberman wasn't listening anything to what I had to say. ''If you dare, you'll be my training dummy in Genjutsu for the next 2 weeks!''

''So what! I wanna taste the mystery food!''

I thought about it for a millisecond. ''No! Leave my food alone!''

''Can I get some more beer here!'' Zoro shouted and waved the empty cup around like the drunkard he is.

''We need some water over here!'' Sanji shouted next to Chopper who started to choke on his food.

''Obaachan! More food!'' Me and Luffy shouted while glaring daggers at each other. There were moments when Vivi laughed at us and Nami sighing at us. After few seconds the whole room was laughing. I found it particularry funny when Luffy was as round as a beach ball rolling on the table.

_''I kinda regret saying that I wanted to go home once.''_

The banquet continued 'till the King said that there's a bathhouse waiting for us inside the Palace. I was taken aback by its interior. Golden lion statues spewing water, marble floors and a huge fountain in the middle of it. This certaily made my weeks in the desert seem worth it. I gazed around it and made a list to draw the place like everything else I encountered in the desert. Wrapping the towel on my waist, I deadpanned at Luffy and Usopp who ran around naked like the kids they are.

''This is the Palace's esteemed bathhouse. We're only really able to use it when it rains.'' Cobra explained to us. He then looked at me and widened his eyes. ''Those marks! But, I thought-''

''They were dead? Trust me, their very much alive.'' I said with a shrug and stared at my tattoos. They looked pretty cool and I kinda wanted to show it off to Daxter.

''I was led to believe that they hate outsiders.''

''I'm different.'' I blinked at the direction where Luffy and Usopp skidded around the bathhouse. Chuckling a bit, I went under a stream of water and closed my eyes. _''Yup, its official now. I'm losing it and a gut feeling of mine tells me that it has something to do with the C-G in me. Fucking evil substance, I should've destroyed the damned thing before consuming it. Wait, a second.''_ I opened my eyes and smiled a bit. _''There should be an opposite of it. Maybe that will help me down a little. The problem now would be: where can I find one?''_

''It's right over that wall!'' Cobra shouted. I turned my head at his direction and my smile instantly turned into a grin.

''YOUR MAJESTY, YOU BASTARD!'' Igaram shouted in outrage.

''Cobra-sama, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.'' I made my way towards him, accompanied by Usopp, Sanji, Luffy, Chopper and, to my surprise, Eyelashes and Igaram joined us. ''I guess the sayings true after all: what the wife doesn't know, doesn't hurt.''

Igaram gave me blunt look. ''I didn't even told her how much you scared me.''

''Hahahaha! Gomenasai.'' I rubbed the back of my head. I also noticed that my hair was swept back by the water. Kinda made me look like Vergil from Devil May Cry, he was my favorite character next to Dante. And others.

''Shh, the girls are rubbing each others backs.'' Sanji hissed at us. We apologized at the perverted cook. The thought made me snigger. I was being a hypocrite again.

They talked for a while and our perverted giggles eventually betrayed our positions

''W-Wait a minute, what are you all doing up there!'' Vivi panicked and tried to cover herself with what was left of her towel. I even had my eyejutsu on and wasn't afraid to use one of its advantages.

''Those guys...'' Nami sighed from her spot. ''Alright, it'll be 100,000 Beli each.''

I raised my fist in the air. ''This round's on me!''

''Alright! Thanks!'' Sanji high-fived me. I was happy that we didn't have that small feudal disbute between us anymore. It was refreshing not to be glared at for something you did unintentionally. I patted the spot next to me and saw Luffy stretch his hand, grabbing the supposed missing participant of this event and plopped him next to Igaram. ''Damn Marimo ruining this moment.''

''900,000 Beli? You'd better pay up then.'' Nami warned me and slowly took the towel off. We edged closer, hopefully to get a better look through the steam surrounding us. ''Happines Punch!''

''Is that a techn-!'' My words ended in my throat when the towel got off her. It took me a lot not to slip up and pass out from the blood pressure in my nose. Instead I pinched my nose and glared at her with my sharingans. ''Y-Y-You'll h-ha-have to d-do more t-t-than that!'' I said, my consciousness nearly slipping on me.

''Pervert!'' Nami shrieked at me. I managed to weakly smile at her. I knew that I made a mistake doing that, if the smirk on her face was any indication. She put a finger in her mouth and gave me a cute pout. ''I wouldn't have expected anything less from you, Ezekiel-_sensei_.'' Nami said sultry with a wink.

That did and my mind blanked out. Well, not really blank, it only got fuzzy from the huge blood fountain I made. Hell, it was bigger than the fountain inside the bathhouse.

''Ezekiel-nii!'' Chopper shouted in obvious panic and ran circles around me. ''Quick! We need a doctor here!'' There was that and other conversations around me as I had a stupid grin all over my face.

_''Ezekiel-sensei, Ezekiel-sensei. I like it. I really like it.''_ A picture of the event few seconds ago appeared on my mind. _''Vane-sensei, Master Ezekiel Vane. I think i can get used to that.''_ I heard a lot of mumblings around me, the most notable being that the King was thanking us and other stuff. After that I was dragged away from the bathhouse by a grumbling Zoro.

Regaining my vigor after a good minute of rest. I changed back to my clothest. I even decided to leave my hair slicked back for once. The rest of the guys already left, so I was alone in the changing room now.

_''Where's my sash?''_ I though and looked around. It then came to me that I never took one and growled at myself. Leaving the bathhouse with a one final look, I walked towards the recuperation room where the other guys were probably discussing about leaving tonight. On my way there, I met Chaka just standing there. I looked around to see who he was waiting for and couldn't find anyone beside me and him in the hallway.

''Ezekiel-san'' Chaka nodded in my direction.

''Just Ezekiel's fine.'' I said with a raised brow. ''Can I help you with something?''

''I'm waiting for Igaram-san. He wanted to talk something about the Market District-accident.'' He then gave me a suspicious look. ''Do you happen to know something about that place?''

I slowly started to sweat under his gaze. ''N-Nothing, sir!''

Chaka studied me for a while and I knew why he was choosen as the Elite Guard. The guy knows his stuff regarding royal business and... whatever he's doing right now.

''Sorry about that. Its been stressful after the war.'' Chaka apologized and I had to resist the urge to sigh in relief.

''Its okay, that happens.''

''Your friends went that way.'' Chaka said, pointing his finger towards a door a good distance away.

''Thanks.'' I managed to say with a weak grin and speed-walked off before Chaka starts to ask more questions. _''That was close!''_

''Yosh! We're leaving after one more Arabasta banquet!'' Luffy announced when I barged in. I looked around to see if that's true, but was disappointed when Zoro shouted that we're leaving now. There was also a Den Den Mushi next to Luffy, but I ignored the thing. It was probably something about our ship being moved my Mr. 2 as it should go so far.

''I think it wold be wise too.'' I said and got their attention. ''I heard rumours about the Marine activity lately. Their gonna take a warrant to sweep the whole Palace for us.'' I told them with a shrug.

''How did you find that out?'' Usopp asked me.

''You get bored easily so I went and spied on some white n' blue shirts.''

''What! But you and Luffy have bounties on your head! You shouldn't stroll around!'' Nami shouted at me with a glare.

''I could break into a casino undetected, I sure as hell can tail few measly Marines.'' I stated with a grin. I loved to boast about the fact that I robbed the Rain Dinners. _''One more step forward on fulfilling my promise.''_

My word got through them as we went inside a stable where the duck-squad waited for us. I greeted Donald with a patter the duck on his head and complimented him for securing my stuff.

''Ezekiel-san.'' Vivi said behind me. I turned my head to her and saw that she offered me a new sash with a nerveous smile. This one was light blue colored, same as her hair. I took it and raised my brow at her.

''What for?''

''As a thank you present for the moral support you've given me. Its not much and I thought you'd need a new one.''

I smiled at her. ''That's sweet and all. But I don't have anything for you.'' A thought came to me as I took out my butterfly-knife from my seal. ''How 'bout this one?''

''B-But...''

''I want to give it to you as a return. Either that or...'' I gave her a glare that made her gulp a little. It was funny doing so.

''You'll never stop calling me a brat?'' Vivi asked with uncertainty in her voice. That took me off guard and chuckled at her.

''You've grown up and I can't find any enjoyment teasing you anymore if you keep doing that.'' I pouted at the smiling Vivi who glomped me with a hug. I was put off guard again, but decided to return the gesture with a warm embrace. ''Kick some ass out there for me.''

''Sure,'' Vivi said and broke the hug. ''I'll do that. Be safe.''

''I'm always safe!'' I said and mounted the duck. With a last look, we all ride off from Alubarna. _''Finally, new adventures!''_

[Going Merry, Daxter's POV]

After my small argument with the rainbow swan for these past days. We moved the goat-headed ship somewhere safe from the Marine eyes. _''Thank God he thought that I was just an frail animal who can't speak.''_ I looked at the essentric person and shuddered. _''It's not like I can argue here with him. I need to wait for Ez, so he can beat that... that thing out.''_

''What is it, Bunny-chan?'' Mr. 2 asked me. A tick mark appeared on my head. Shaking my head, I took higher grounds from him and growled at him. ''Come on~ I'm not that scary!'' He then began making those dance moves.

_''Please hurry, he's not the only problem here.''_ I quickly went inside the gallery and glared at the woman who kept staring at Ezekiel's scrolls. _''If she does something with those, he'll probably strangle her. And not in a kinky way either.''_

''Oh, Orange-san. I was wondering how these work?'' Robin, as she called herself, asked me. She knew I could talk, but felt relieved when the woman didn't boast out and tell the freak. I narrowed my eyes at her. I couldn't snap and shout at her because the freak outside would investigate. The woman wanted to hide until she's away from Arabasta.

_''Why did I promise to her that I won't tell a soul that she's hiding here.''_ I sighed with my head down. _''Because she's hot? Because it could cause a disturbance as Ezekiel put it? One thing I know is that I should keep my mouth shut lest this gets any uglier.''_

''Oi Bunny-chan~! Come dance with me~!'' Mr. 2 shouted and I guessed that the guy was twirling around the deck. How dumb can the okama be? He doesn't know that we have a extra passanger with us and the guy acts like Ezekiel when he has one of his fits.

_''Crisis avoided, I don't have to explain those magic scrolls to her. One sweet talk from a hot lady is all it takes to break my silence wall.''_ I sighed again, it was something I did mostly in these past 2 weeks, beside training. Yes, I, trained with those slave drivers that call themselves dugongs. It was more of a beating than training, but I thought that I could make myself useful one of these days. Hiding doesn't suit me after couple of years.

That in mind, I escaped the gallery and saw that the woman also stood up and went to search around. Walking a bit, there was a rising dust cloud coming towards us and a very familiar scent. I grinned and jumped on the rail. I thought it was fate screwing with me or bad luck when the okama grabbed me and hugged the life out of my furry body.

_''Kinda remindes me of that cute little girl back 'home'.''_

[Sandora River, Near the Going Merry, Ezekiel's POV]

I focused on the way ahead and tried to spot Angel around me. She's been acting weird 3 days ago and I was worried sick about her.

_''And I forgot her snacks! She's going to kill me.''_ I shook my head to get rid of the thought. There was a lot of shouts coming from the pirates in front of me. Mostly it was about Vivi and her decicion on joining the crew or not. I had my doubts, but this would be a good opportunity of a what if situation. If she's join this group of criminals, there would be a lot of heat behind us. Like the WG thinking that we kidnapped the Princess or we brainwashed her pretty head. _''No thanks, I already have an dumb organization after me. Babysitting an ex-Princess won't do good on my rep.''_

After long minutes of riding, we eventually saw the Going Merry. I smiled at the boat. Haven't seen the goat head in 2 weeks and missed the seas. Looking to my left, there was a sand trail next to me. I blinked at it for a second. After a moment of inner musing, I thought it was Angel trying to keep up and let it be.

''I WAS WAAAITING FOR YOU GUYS~!'' Mr. 2 shouted from the ships rail. I made a quick clance at him and something orange on his armpit. I mounted off from Donald and ruffled his feather head in appreciation. The duck was polite enough to set my stuff on the ground. I'm gonna miss him too.

Crouching down, I held my arms in front of me and grabbed Angel before she pummeled herself on my head. It was good thing I did because she had that rock-head stuff covering her snout. I found it was cool that it crumbled away into a dirt which revelead her grinning at me.

''How do you do that?'' I asked as I kept hugging her. She was cold as any cold-blooded reptiles should be. I ignored all the cheerings and sat down on my scroll.

_''It's part of my ability. Kinda like yours, but different.''_

I scowled at her and said, ''Your not gonna tell me? Fine, me neither.'' Angel giggled at me. ''You said you found your family. Where are they?''

_''Oh! Their here!'' _She said and turned her head to the side. _''Daddy! He's here!''_

My eyes shot open at her proclamation. ''Daddy!'' As I said that, the sand beneath me shook and rose up. I couldn't see the creature under me as it was covered in sand, but after that I began to shake in fear. Not because it was about five time bigger than Scissors, not because its scale was obsidian and definitely not because I was currently sitting on his snout while the lizard was staring at me. It was the sheer power that it possessed. It wasn't the same as the Sea Kings we once saw. The power was hell of a lot bigger. My tattoo tingled my skin in irratation, but I ignored it in case I accidentally annoyed Angels father.

_''Meatchunk! Meet my daddy! Daddy the humans name is...uhm...''_ I sweatdropped at her. _''What was your name again.''_

I was about to introduce myself, but Angel's father beat me to it, much to my surprise as I understood him perfectly. _**''So your the Hatchling who brought my daughter back?''**_

I tilted my head to the side in confusion. ''Brought back?''

He nodded its snout up and down while I kept using chakra as to not fall down. _**''Yes, she and her mother have been both kidnapped from me 10 years ago by humans.''**_Here he looked at me, or more like stared with the red sclera and the green slits in both of his eyes. _**''I never saw them 'till this day when my daughter told me everything. Including the death of her mother and my mate. I want to thank you, Hatchling, for bringing me back my daughter. I couldn't bear loosing my children. Their all important to me.''**_The giant lizard lowered his snout for me to get off and stayed like that. I thought it was something similar to bowing, which I quickly returned.

''Please no, there's no need to thank me.'' Something then clicked on my brain. ''Children?'' It was then that I regretted that I let my guard down and made a list to improve on it. Because the second I did, a barrage of lizards erupted from the sand and hit me square in the face. Eight in total if the stars I counted gave anything off. There was a lot of playful hissing noises coming from the lizard and they were all smaller than Angel. I could hear laughter behind me on the ship and chuckled to myself.

_''Alright pipsqueaks, let him go now. Daddy wants to talk with him.''_ Angel said and they instantly went in a neat line. They all looked so cute and with different colors and streaks. I turned back to see the other pirates + okama watching the scene with smiles. Flashing my thumb to tell everythings okay, I turned my head back to the giant lizard. He looked like that giant Sandora Lizard we once ate, but I could tell that this one was much more dangerous.

_**''My daughter's right. For reuniting us again, i'd like to give you a present. Now, hold out your hand.''**_ He ordered and opened the giant maw of his. At first I thought he was going to eat me, but instead prodused a long tongue which was held in front of me. Nodding, I complied with his request and saw that the tongue licked my right palm and held it there. There was a small smoke coming from between the lizards appendage and my hand. After few seconds, he took the tongue off and I looked at my hand in puzzlement. What was just a skin moments ago, I saw a green tri-pronged mark with dots in between them.

''And this is?'' I asked with a raised brow.

_**''A surprise.''**_ He said and I gave a light scowl at him. **_''Go find a man who goes by the name: The Spirit. Show him that mark and...''_** The giant lizard ruffled my head with his tongue in a childish manner. _**''Its going to be a blast!''**_

_''He means that we can see each other again. Not sure how.''_ Angel tried to explain to me. Sighing, I gave her a hug as a gesture of goodbye. Setting her down, I waved at the reunited lizard family and jumped on the ship.

''If you say so! I'll look forward to it!'' I shouted and tried to smile. It was all in vain though since I burst into crying and hugged the closest thing next to me. ''I'm gonna miss them! It's like every time I feel wanted! This happens and I have to part away from them!'' The person who I hugged returned it and I cried harder in its embrace.

''Just let it all out! Crying is normal when parting from your loved ones!'' The person said with a loud, annoying voice that eerily sounded familiar. ''Oh come my way~!''

_''Wait a second...''_ I looked up and was face to face with Mr. 2 with his make-up staining all over his face. I instantly let go and went behind Nami. Using her as a meatshield this time. ''What is he doing here! Why didn't you guys beat him up already! I was just brutaly violated by... by...! What's your name again?''

''Your back! Leaving me here, alone with that Dolly-Bolly! We need seriously need to figure a way to communicate. What if I need help!'' Daxter shouted at me from my shoulder. I didn't know what was going on in here while I was discussing with the lizard family. But I guessed it had something to do with Mr. 2 dancing around the ship.

''Yeah, you do that.'' I said and grabbed the ottsel by its tail. ''How's it been?''

''Nothing much you know. Doing stuff. How was yours?'' Daxter said, in a much more calmed voice where I raised my eyebrow at him.

''There's something your not telling me.''

''Me? Keep a secret from you?'' The ottsel started to sweat a bit and looked towards the gallery. ''No, there's nothing.''

I narrowed my eyes at him. This wasn't how he usually behaves. ''Fine.'' It was then that I noticed we were sailing already. _''I'm getting sloppy.''_

''Anything new while you were away?'' Daxter asked me.

''Yeah, a lot. I'll tell you about them later.''

''Ooooh~! Bunny-chan can talk!'' Mr. 2 shouted after his small dance session with Luffy, Usopp and Chopper. He tried to grab Daxter by its tail, but the ottsel was unusually faster. At first I thought he was training but instantly shot the thought down.

_''Him? Training? Riiight...''_ I shook my head and kept laughing. It was then that Luffy came waltzing towards me, trying to imitate Mr. 2's twirling with little to no success.

''Where's Angel? I though he wanted to sail with us.'' Luffy waved his arms around.

''First, its a she, and second no. She won't come with us, because Angel wanted to be with her family.'' I thought came to me then. ''How come you guys weren't scared? I expected Usopp or Nami to scream in fear, but they never did.''

''That's because Chopper translated for us and calmed down. What did the Tokage-Ossan do to your hand?'' Luffy said and grabbed my hand. He then began to inspect the mark of something I had no clue about its meaning. Other than the obvious of finding a person named The Spirit. ''What is this?''

''I don't know. He said something about showing it to a guy named The Spirit.''

''Oh! So its a mystery tattoo. Like the one on your other arm?''

''If you put it that way. Yes.'' I said with uncertainty in my voice. I was still trying to figure out what the power the Lizard King emanated. _''Probably a weird type of Haki or something.''_

At first I thought it was my imagination, but I swore I heard cannon shots from afar. Looking around for a bit. I was right, there were black dots coming towards us and I wasn't the only one who noticed them.

''DAMMIT! SHOOT YOUR CANNONBALLS AT US! I CAN BOUNCE 'EM BACK!'' Luffy shouted at the incoming projectiles. He was about to jump when I stopped the guy by grabbing his shoulder.

''These aren't your regular cannonballs.'' I narrowed my eyes and gulped when the Marines were now shooting iron spears at us. ''Crap! We can't let those hit us!''

It seemed the message got through when the spears pierced our ship. Another shots were heard and we all tensed in fright.

''Here they come!'' Nami shouted in panic, shortly followed by Chopper requesting help down the deck. More spears were shot at us and I cursed when one was too close to Merry's head. ''Hurry up and DO something you guys!''

''On it!'' I went on the right side of the ship. Activating my fake bloodline limit, I took a deep breath and was about to spew a dragon-shaped fire at them. On the middle of my routine, my eyes caught something flying towards the ship I was aiming at.

*Splash!*

That was the sound of two ship covered in...

''Is that a mucus?'' Zoro asked me with a raised brow.

''That was you?'' Luffy beamed in. ''That was awesome! Do it again!''

''It wasn't me! That stuff came from...'' I tried to locate the area where it was shot and saw it. A smile formed on my face as I waved at the direction. It was Angels father, standing high and proud over a huge dune. He slammed his tail on the sand, creating a huge dust cloud around him and vanished from the spot. ''Guess that's his way of helping.'' I deadpanned at it.

''That was amazing, Red-chan! Good going!'' Mr. 2 cheered at the 'performance'. My eyebrow started to twitch violently, but I managed to calm myself this time. ''Now the two ships to the south are gone! Full speed in that direction~!'' There was a lot of yelling that came from Mr. 2's crewmates shouted about Black Cage. That got a reaction out of him and started to mumble about Black Cage Hina.

''So what about her? She's just some big shot Marine Captain.'' I shrugged nonchalantly.

''We can't beat her! Let's ruuun away! If we exit to the south, we can escape with minimum damage! If we stay like this, we'll be done in for sure!''

''If you want to go, then go.'' Luffy said with a glance at Bon Clay. The crew started talking about meeting someone in east. I knew better than to interfere, since I know that Vivi's not coming with us, but that didn't mean that i'll just sit back and watch. I closed my eyes and disconnected from the world for few seconds. That was enough for me as the time flew past me and the okama was already gone. Acting as decoys for us, what a dumb lot.

''About damn time. I thought that he'll never leave.'' Daxter whispered to my ear. I silently nodded, but also had a feeling that i'll meet the guy again. I hoped I was wrong though.

So we started to listen to Vivi's speech about our adventures. It was heart-warming and all. Which I found out now wasn't my taste at all, but still could digest it to some degree.

''VIVI!'' Luffy suddenly shouted and jumped on a rail. I blinked twice and went to see the commotion that is Luffy only to see Vivi and Carue waving at us from the shore. ''See, she's here!'

''Turn the ship! Turn the ship!'' Usopp shouted.

''I'm here to say good-bye!'' Vivi shouted, but didn't quite reach us. I was only able to hear because Daxter told me what she yelled. She was silent for a few seconds and talked again, this time we could hear her perfectly. ''I... cannot go with you! Thank you for everything! I wan't to have more adventures, but... I can't because... I love my country! That's why I cannot come with you! I will stay here, but if we ever meet again. Will you still call me your nakama!''

''Oh my God, she's crying. How cute.'' I chuckled and took a great liking when Luffy's big mouth was shut by Nami. She said something about Marines already seeing her and we don't need to add fuel to the fire for her to be acknowledged as a pirate.

''Let's just make this a silent farewell.'' Nami added.

I rolled up my left sleeve, exposing the tattoo'd arm. I was happy that there was a spot for the X-mark in my forearm. Daxter climbed on my shoulder and grinned at me.

''Now we have to hit the clubs more than ever! That lady-killed arms you got there will get us-!''

''Shhh...!'' We all shushed the loud orange rat and held our left arms high. There was a long silence, beside the cannonballs shot at us. It was highly annoying. After our silent farewell, we took the sails and tried to get away from the Marines chasing us.

''Wow! Those guys are fast!'' Luffy commented.

''It's more like we're losing speed.'' Sanji said.

''We're taking water from the hole below deck. If those guys don't do something, we won't make it!'' Nami said. I wanted to make clones to help the guys, but i'd rather work them out later. I don't trust them as much as before.

''There's only four ships. It seems we have to fight them.'' Zoro said.

''One for each, I can live with that.'' I grinned and cracked my knuckels.

''Yosh! Let's go!'' Luffy shouted as we took a step forward, only to trip on those iron spears lined around the deck.

''WHAT THE HELL!'' We all shouted at Nami who said that we'll keep them in case we could use them for something. I sighed and tapped Luffy on the shoulder. Getting the rubbermans attention, I pointed at the spears and the Marine ships.

''Oooh!'' Luffy grinned at me. ''Great minds think alike.''

I deadpanned at him. ''I take that as an insult.'' He didn't listen to me and proceeded to throw the spears back where they came from. ''We'll better move out while their still recovering.''

''Took the words right out of my mouth!'' Zoro shouted and threw a large paddle at me. Where ever he got those will be a mystery. No one complained as we paddled like the hounds of hell were after us.

[1 hour later]

''The Marines aren't chasing us anymore! We shook them off, didn't we?'' Zoro asked around with a raised brow at us. ''Hey now, what's with the lifeless responses?'' He refered to us crying from the rail fences with our heads poking out of it.

''WE MISS HER!''

''Quit whining about it! If you didn't want to leave her behind. You should've just taken her by force!''

''You neanderthal!'' Chopper shouted.

''You suck!'' Nami shouted.

''Marimo.'' Sanji said, this time more in disgust at Zoro's lack of care.

''Cretin.'' I mumbled.

''Santouryuu.'' Luffy said.

''Wait, Luffy. ''Santouryuu'' isn't an insult.'' Usopp corrected.

''Yontouryuu then.'' And so began their short argument about insults. I stood up and grabbed my head in pain. Walking towards the deck, I started to stagger a bit and used the rail to support myself.

''Oi, you alright?'' I would've been surprised that it was Sanji, again, who asked me that, but let it go and started to ease my breath.

''I'm fine, just tired. I think I'll go to sleep now.'' I said and walked near the mast where the trapdoor to the mensroom lied.

''But Ez! There's something really important I need to tell you.'' Daxter shouted at me and pointed towards the door below the gallery. Or the storage room, which ever you prefer.

''I'm sure it can wait...'' I waved him off and quickly resumed to grab my head again. Sighing in small relief that it was momentarily gone. I turned back to the worried crew and gave them a cold look. ''Listen, i'm gonna take a nap now... if you wake me up for something unimportant, I will buy you all a cute puppy, wait for you to fall in love with it and then murder it in front of you.'' I pointed my finger at each of them and saw them gulp. ''Seriously, _don't_ wake me up.''

That said, I went down and threw myself on the nearest net hammock and closed my eyes.

_''About damn time I get some sleep. One more day and I probably would've died.''_ I thought and welcomed the sleep all the while ignoring the back pain and that I forgot something important that was supposed to happen now. I got a tick mark when the crew started making noises. _''Maybe i'll get them a puppy for Christmas.''_

**[To Be Continued]**

I really don't have anything to say here, but I do have one.

Leave a review and have a nice day. No threats this time. Not about your family or your puppies.

Just sayin'


	39. Truth and Staff lessons

**Chapter 39: I'll Make a Man Out Of You.**

**I decided to wait and make my own short filler chapter before the Skypiea arc. **

**Just to piss someone off.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Going Merry, Ezekiel's POV]

I slowly started to blink when I heard some noises coming from all around me. It wasn't human, that much I knew, but something that made me growl at it in deep hatred.

Rain, I _never_ liked the rain. Those little drops people call 'tears of sky' used to represent the time I was weak. It made me feel insignificant. Another thing I was constantly reminded whenever I felt even the slightest bit of happiness. The rain would always wash it all away.

The day I completely detested the rain was when it rained on Masters funeral. I found it unforgivable to ruin such an event. People started to run around and find shelter from the wide area of stacked tombstones. Only handful of people stayed and let the rain soak their expensive suits. I was one of them.

I started to remember the day I began to hate rain. When the memory came to me, I narrowed my eyes at the ceiling above me. I felt sadness wash over me, because it just happened and anger because... because...

...probably from the same reason.

All in all, the rain made me feel something more beside sadness and anger.

It was guilt in myself. Guilt that I could've done something. Guilt that I could've done more, but yet, I didn't do shit. It all happened in a blur or more like in a flash. Standing on the street, witnessing it all happen before my eyes. Its like fate bought me front row seat to the event and arranged it so that i'll have traumas for the rest of my life.

_''Why did I feel quilt? Maybe it was because I wanted it to happen? No it can't be, it could, no. I don't want to think about that.''_ It was times like these when I want to confine myself even more than I already am. Shut myself in a room or vanish from the existence.

''I should have done something though.'' I mumbled to myself and let out small, dry laugh. The laughter might've helped a little. It was one of the things I did to hide my true self. The problem is: I have many of those. So hiding them all is getting weary nowadays. ''Since when did I get so... emotional.'' I shook my head. This might be the downside of my illness: losing my sanity.

A pulse alerted me from my left waist. There on my new sash, where Yamaoroshi and Triton were strapped under it tried to get my attention. The most notable of those two was Yama's constant tries. I smiled at them and grabbed the eccentric katanas hilt. My muscle tensed slighty from the contact, but was surprised when I heard a voice in my head.

_''Hey! Hey! Are you alright! Something wrong! Hello!''_

''What is it?'' I sighed with a small smile. She's like Vivi on sugar rush.

_''I thought you were injured! What happened?''_

''Rain, that's what happened.'' There was a small silence between us when I heard a small 'Oops' inside my head. I narrowed my eyes again, this time at the sword. ''Oops? What's that supposed to mean?''

_''It means that I made a little incy wincy drip drops here in your head. So the rain your hearing are actually coming from here.''_

I think I made something no human was possible to do. I growled and at the same time laughed my ass off. It sounded like a wounded, depressed animal finally being put off from its misery. Which sounded horrible, if Yama's shudder gave anything off.

''Could you turn it off please?'' I said and closed my eyes. Calming my breath, I heard that the noises were slowly vanishing and smiled. ''Thanks.''

_''Anytime.''_ I could feel Yama's beaming smile. She really acts like a child sometimes. Innocent, playful and not to mention cute. _''Thanks!''_

I frowned a bit. ''You can read my thoughts?''

_''Noo...'' _The sword heated up a bit as I breathed a sigh of relief. _''I can _hear_ your thought.''_

That resulted me to facefault off from the net hammock. Despite the small pain I felt now, it did something to get rid of my emo-vibes. I also made a mental list to pamper the katana for cheering me up.

I smiled when the rainy noises were but a mere wind howling in the room. Looking around, I could tell that the guys just woke up and were eating breakfast by now. It was a lucky guess of mine, but it was something I looked forward to this whole time. Its been so long since I had a decent breakfast and what better way to break the record with some Lucky Charms.

I climbed up the mast and welcomed the fresh sea air in my lungs. Sleeping in the same room with four guys and two pseudo-animals might get a little uncomfortable for anyone in my position. Stretching a bit, I noticed that the others were lounging in the gallery. I was taken aback by the sunbed and stool with books lying around. I guessed that Nami was trying something new. Something that belonged to the category of weird girls. Smiling at the odd thought, I walked towards the stairs and had my hand on the doorknob belonging to the gallery.

I was about to open it and greet everyone when I heard them having an intresting conversation.

''When do you guys think Ezekiel wakes up?'' Luffy asked and if i'm not mistaking, he had his mouth full of processed food. The thought made me shudder. ''I wanna see new magic tricks.''

I heard a groan and had difficulties identifying said groan, but guessed that it belonged to Zoro. ''Let the guy get his sleep, Luffy.''

''Zoro's right.'' This time it was Chopper. ''Does anyone know anything about Ezekiel-nii? Family? Previous illness? Allergies? Trauma? Anything?'' I smiled to myself. The little doctors taking responsibilities.

_''They grow up so fast.''_

The room fell silent and I felt the people in the room were thinking. ''Nothing,'' Sanji said. ''We don't know anything about him. It's like he's a complete stranger.'' Another silence fell down with lots of humming noises.

''Hey, Nami. Do you know where he's from? You were the first one who met him.'' Usopp's voice made a debut which confirmed that everyone were awake.

''I met him working on a small restaraunt near Gecko Island called Lisnor Island. Its mostly known as a trade point for large ships to re-stock its high-quality products.'' I heard Nami explain with a small sigh. Chuckling inwardly, I closed my eyes to relive the small memory. ''I wanted to draw a map of the Island, but needed help on fixing my boat first. That's when I met Ezek-kun. People there said that he likes to help around for small fee. I was lucky he repaired my boat for free back then.''

''What did you do?'' Zoro asked this time. His voice was filled with suspicious.

''I didn't do anything!'' I could feel there was a staring contest between Nami and the rest of the crew. ''Alright, I might've taken his necklace. But I returned it!''

''You sure you just didn't steal it?''

''I didn't!'' Nami shouted back. ''Anyways, after he fixed my boat, he vanished in that flame jutsu of his.'' She paused a bit there, but I felt she was trying to remember more of the event. Not that I blame her. Its been several months since that happened. ''After that, I met him again once I finished drawing the map and saw him on this festival.''

_''There's more, but that's beside the point here now is it.''_ I smiled, this time pleased at her. _''She's a lot different now. Bolder, more determined than in the anime.''_

''So he's always been a good guy?'' Luffy asked.

''Uhm, yeah. He helped people a lot of people, cleared out bandits when the people couldn't, and others. There was nothing but praises for him when I searched for him. It's a mystery to me why he even left.''

''Your saying you want him out of here!'' Luffy this time shouted in outrage. The guy was on his own world and heard the last two words from Nami. ''No way! He's staying here!''

*BAM!*

''I didn't say that you idiot!'' Nami shouted in anger, much to my own amusement as I wanted to see the scene of Luffy beaten to the ground. I'll bet that I would see her flustered now. ''Oh! There was also a rumour that he visited a doctor quite often... well, not visited, but more like dragged there by Lisa-san.''

A trickle of sweatdrop went past my shoulder. _''More like she first beat me _then_ dragged me there.''_

''Who's she?'' Chopper inquired.

''Ezek-kun's Boss. They sorta had a mother-son relationship.'' I deadpanned at Nami's voice behind the door.

_''How did she get that much info about me?''_ Sighing, I looked behind me to see if I was being watched. Seing nothing, I resumed my eavesdropping. _''Damn gossip girls.''_

''Anything about his medical visit?'' Chopper asked.

''It didn't cross my mind back then. You'll have to ask him about it.'' Nami replied.

''Wait.'' Sanjis voice rung around. ''Didn't he say that he was born in Grand Line?''

I cursed like a sailor in my mind. _''How am I gonna explain that? Maybe I could make up a story... sounds good.''_ I quickly made a cover story for myself. It might work, but I was currently out of ideas so it had to work.

''He did. Though, he never said where. Should we ask him?'' Zoro asked.

''We shouldn't pry too much into him. I'm sure he'll tell us when he's ready.'' Luffy said which resulted me to sigh behind the door and smile. At least I had more time, but I'll have to tell them sooner or later.

_''Maybe a slightly fabricated version.''_ That in mind, I slowly opened the door and was greeted by twelve pair of eyes. I flashed a smile at them with my eyelids slightly closed. ''Good morning.''

''It's noon already.'' They chorused at the same time with blank looks.

''My body tells me its morning. Don't confuse it.''

I walked inside the gallery and patted Choppers hat. Opening one of the drawers, I took a bowl and a spoon which I neatly set them on the table. I grinned at the pirates confused glances from the corner of my eye. It was funny doing so after listening them talking about me. Smiling in delight that we had some milk. I grabbed it and poured it into a ceramic cup. Storing the milk back into the refrigerator. I sat down on my spot and got a curious look from Luffy, Usopp and Chopper. Mostly from Luffy who was 'brave' enough to ask me a question.

''Ne, ne, Ezekiel. Can you show me a magic trick?''

I blinked at the Captain. ''I... think I can show you something.'' Immediately the three of them surronded me and started at my hands. A tick mark made its presence on my forehead. ''Can I get some room here, please?'' They complied and backed away like those kids who knew that there would be a punishment if they don't do what their told to.

I placed my hands palm to palm and started to rub them together. Kinda like those people I saw on the bus station during winter. Where they forgot their gloves and had to keep their hands warm while waiting for said public vehicle to arrive. Pouring chakra during my routine. I felt my palms heating up until red chakra was visible between my palms. Setting them apart from each other. I gently placed my hands on the cup and breathed in and out with my eyes closed.

After few seconds later. I opened my eyes and looked at the cup or more like the substance inside the cup. It wasn't boiling hot nor too cold. The temperature was perfect with little steams rising from the milk.

''You heated the milk? That's not a magic trick.'' Usopp deadpanned at my work, not pleased at all.

Thankfully it was Luffy who grinned and threw his hands in the air. ''Wohoo! That was awesome! Now whenever I want meat you can store it and if they get cold you can heat it. Its like we have a portable oven with us!''

I heard 5 face faults around me and I couldn't help but sulk in front of my bowl. ''I'm starting to doubt my own humanity now.'' I stated and began to unroll the bandages from my left arm. That done, I took the seal tag containing my stuff and set it neatly on the table in front of me. I placed my hand on top of the tag and a 'Poof!' of smoke later. My Lucky Charms greeted me with its leprechaun in green jacket and cereal bowl in the cardboard box.

''Cereal? Are you serious?'' Nami asked with a small sigh.

I wasn't really listening to her as I was already devouring my breakfast. Savoring the first sugary taste. I gave the navigator a through look when the question she asked surfaced back on my mind.

''What the hell are you talking about? I can't be Sirius.'' I said while munching the toasted oat-based pieces and multi-colored marshmallow bits. ''Sirius Black is dead. Died in the Death Chamber.'' It was when I gulped my food down that I noticed my slip up. ''Never mind.''

I shook my head and took another bite of my cereal. ''So you were just mumbling nonsense around have you? Jeez...'' Sanji sighed.

''A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men. Remember that, Sanji.''

''It must be the cereal.'' Zoro whispered to Sanji who probably nodded at the answer.

''So,'' Nami began as she sat next to me. ''How was the sleep?''

I gulped another portion of my food and stared at her. ''Pretty blank. I thought that there would be some glimps and glamps, but no. There was nothing.''

She was slighty saddened at that. I didn't know why she was sad, but pegged it as another benefit of the female mind. Her countenance then changed into a brilliant smile with a hint of mischievousness in her eyes.

''I've been meaning to ask. Have you had any dreams lately?''

_''What the hell?''_ I calmly thought and kept studying Nami for a while. Not one to delay questions, I stared at my bowl. ''I wouldn't call them dreams. More like flashbacks to my childhood. Other than that, I mostly have nightmares.''

''What was it like?'' Nami tried to pry information out of me.

''I'd rather not talk about them.'' I said and took another spoonful of my cereal, munching it with my eyes closed. Suddenly the gallery door opened and I thought it was Daxter who finally woke up from wherever the hell he was. ''Morning Daxter.''

I was confused when I didn't get an immediate reply, but when I did, the voice was familiar and feminine. At first I thought it was one of his sick humors he usually does to piss me off. Opening one of my eye, I looked down, expecting a blotch of orange grinning at me.

Imagine my surprise when instead there was a long, slender leg in a dark purple pants. Following them up, the person, now confirmed as human, had a light purple blouse with two or three buttons open.

What made my both eyes open was the face of said person. Dark hair, much longer than mine where it has grown near my jaw lines during the previous arcs. Or it was because my hair wasn't the gravity defying as before. I made a mental note to do something about it.

Her tanned skin was dark, yes, but my own skin tone was darker than hers. What made me narrow my eyes was her own blue ringed ones filled with amusement and curiousity. Despite those emotions and the fake smile, I saw through her.

Those were the same eyes I had. Same ones that would never leave me, but learned through trial and error to never let them beat me.

Her eyes were near dead. She didn't have a reason to live nor the will, but there was something she hold onto and once that was gone...

I took another portion of my soaked cereal as the room was deathly silent. There was the twelve pair of eyes again that I felt on me and the woman on the door. She quickly resumed from her blank face to that hard trained fake smile.

Another emotion I saw in her was something i'd never imagine seeing in someone like her. Fear.

Was she afraid of me? I'm used to that yes, but her? I did threaten her before, but she seemed to shrug it off perfectly. Maybe it was because the memory starts to surface back.

_''No, it can't be that.''_ I continued studying her. Something people said was highly annoying. They said that they always feel more like a book than a human being under my scrutiny. I saw she looked at Zoro and Sanji in a blink of an eye. _''Is she considering me as a threat? To what? She is known as a traitor around here.''_

It also seemed that I was studying her way too much when Nami started to knock on my head.

''Alright now, enough staring.'' She said with a hint of anger behind the jealousy she tried to hide from the table.

''Luffy.'' I said, still looking at Robin's direction much to Nami's increasing growl. ''Explain.'' My hand tentatively reached for my tanto. The distance is good enough for the short blade to lengted in case she tries something funny.

''She has those mystery hands which can be used as antlers!'' Luffy cheered, closely followed by Usopp and Chopper. I ignored their laughter as I took the cereal bowl and drank the flavored milk in it. That part was usually the best part of the average cereal in the morning, but it didn't taste so good when _that_ woman stood there.

Standing up, I took my utensils to the sink and started to clean them up. ''Zoro, please.''

I heard a sigh coming from the swordsman behind me. ''After you went to sleep. This...'' He paused a bit. I guessed he was staring at Robin whose high heels were clacking against the wooden floor. ''...woman here made an apperance. She asked if she could join us and well...''

''Luffy said yes.'' I continued and began to dry the wet dishes. ''He is the Captain. There's nothing we can do regarding her stay here.''

''Your okay with that?'' Zoro asked incredulously.

''No, but i'll keep my eyes open. I know people like her... or used to know.'' My face turned into a scowl. Good thing no one noticed it as I neatly set the dried dishes on their shelfs. ''I guess that's that then. There shouldn't be any problem with introduction between us, right?''

''Of course not, Shinobi-san.'' My shoulder tensed a bit from the nickname Robin gave me. I looked at her over my shoulder and narrowed my eyes. The fake smiling woman took my spot on the seat I previously occupied. ''That's your occupation, right?''

''Shinobi?'' Luffy, Usopp and Chopper said at the same time. All confused with question marks hovering above them. What made me worry was their eyes shining with stars and glitters. ''Your a ninja! That's so cool!''

_''God-fucking-dammit!''_ My eyebrow began to twitch violenty, but ended up sighing. ''What gave off?'' I said while looking at Robin for anything to use against her. On outside I might look calm and collected, but my mind was in a war with itself. _''Please don't say anything stupid!''_

''It's how you take care of yourself.'' Robin said as question marks hovered above me, much like the other three stooges who started to swoon around me.

''Come again.'' This time I fully turned towards her and crossed my arms over my chest

''Its a matter of observation.'' Robin said. ''Your steps are silent but cautious, you use shuriken and kunai, something that hasn't been used in ages. I have seen you in combat, you mostly use hand-to-hand combat, but you don't use much force. Your more like a fast, fluid martial artist with a good grasp of strategic mind and...''

The small break of hers didn't register in my head as I was busy celebrating there. _''Phew, she means those old-fashioned ninjas, not the fake Naruto ones.''_

''...and you have access to chakra.'' Robin this time sweet smiled. I guessed it was either my twitching eyebrow or the wary looks directed at her.

''And you know that, how?'' I narrowed my eyes at her, this time I had my sharingan on as intimidation factor.

''I've met one.'' Robin said, now unnerved from my glare. ''Crocodile-san wanted him in his posse, but he gave a simply refused and, well... annihilated our messenger.''

I furrowed my brows this time in thought. _''As a Marine, Shelly wouldn't do something like that. So that means that there's someone out there, good.''_ Relaxing my facial expression a bit. I combed my hair through my finger out of habit and sighed at the 'worst morning ever'. ''Pray tell me why your here and not in a Marine cell.''

''Its all your fault.'' Robin said and I was instantly grabbed by the collar from an enraged Sanji.

''What did you do, shitty ninja!''

''I ain't done shit to her!'' I swatted his hands away.

''Yes you did.'' Robin giggled a bit. ''You could've left me bleed to death, but instead patched me up.'' Now she smiled at me. ''The bandages were a bit tight for me.''

I of course blushed at the short memory and quickly looked elsewhere. Coughing into my palm, I thought it was good time as any to change the subject.

''So, Nami-chan. Ready for your training?'' I tried to sound as enthusiastic as possible and I succeeded doing so.

''Training? Her?'' Zoro questioned with a raised brow directed at me. ''Why?''

''She asked to and who am I to deny.''

Zoro shrugged at my answer. ''Fine, I was about to ask for a spar, but this sounds intresting enough.''

''How intresting?'' Sanji asked.

''You'll see.'' I beamed at him and locked eyes with Nami. ''You ready?''

She was slightly unsure what Zoro said, but determinely nodded. ''H-Hai!''

I nodded at her and gave a brief look at Robin which translated to: keep your mouth shut or else. The message got through her and nodded back. ''Good, meet me at the deck... and go change into something more comfortable.''

''Why?'' Nami tilted her hear to the side. I merely pointed at her miniskirt with a deadpanned expression. She blushed a bit and hesitantly nodded. I walked outside, closely followed by the rest of the room minus Nami who ran into hers and Robin's room. I quickly went to the anchor room and searched for two wooden bo staffs.

After couple minutes of rummaging around. I found the staffs and went to the deck where I saw Luffy, Usopp and Chopper sitting on the rail, Zoro leaning against the gallery door, Sanji who was serving Robin by placing a small cake and tea next to her.

What made my morning was Nami impatiently tapping her flat shoes against the wooden deck. Instead of her usual attire consisting of miniskirt and tight shirt. She now sported a tight pair of black capri pants and female sports top showing off her belly and cleavage.

_''What's with anime girls showing skin around like a salesman selling meat.''_ I unconsciously started to stare at her. _''Though, she does have a nice figure and those black pants shows a good amount-! Get you mind out of the gutter, Vane!''_ I violently shook my head to get rid of the thought.

''Wooo~! Nami-san looks gorgeous!'' Sanji began to swoon around Robin while flailing his arms around.

''Go Nami! Kick his ass!'' Luffy cheered, gaining a giggle out of Nami and a chuckle from Zoro. I was amused too and threw the staff at Nami who caught it in her hands.

''Let's see here. Do you have any combat experiences in you?'' I inquired and began to spin the staff in my right hand.

''If you call bashing heads and sweeping legs off experience, then yes.'' Nami smiled brightly. I had a feeling that she was reliving those moments and sweatdropped at the thought. ''So what are you going to teach me.''

''Well, for that matter, we'll have to take a quick spar.'' I said and started to rotate the staff between my thumb and fingers. I continued repeating the motion 'till the staff was just a blur and twirled it over my head and back. The short performance ended with me taking a stance and holding the staff behind my back. ''It's been a while since I last used a bo staff. You ready?''

''I think s-!'' Nami tried to say something, but I didn't let her finish her words as I sprung forward. I decided to test her a bit and gave a quick, sharp stab on her left shoulder. She winced in pain and glared at me. ''Hey! I wasn't ready!''

''You don't hurt a lady, dumbass!'' Sanji shouted from his spot.

''She asked for this, Sanji. I thought Zeff-sama taught you the old saying: no pain, no gain, right?'' I sagely nodded and suddenly felt 50 years older. Looking at Sanjis direction, he was fuming over the fact that I attacked a 'lady'. That's when a idea came to me. ''Listen, she's my student now and my responsibility.'' I then looked at Nami who rubbed her shoulder a bit. ''Nami, i'll give you the choice to give up whenever you want. Should you do that, you'll not only give up on me or the crew, but on yourself. I have no intention training a weak minded little girl. You asked me for help and I expect serious commitment to this training course.''

Sanji was now fuming like a rabid dog on heat. I was surprised he didn't kick me by now. He looked at Nami and gave what I thought was a pleading look. ''Nami-san you don't have to go with this. He's just gonna hurt you.''

I rolled my eyes at him. Sure Nami isn't the strongest here, but the girl asked for it. _''I'm just teaching her like how I was taught: through experience and hard work.''_ I cringed at the short memory and the person in it. Shaking my head, I tried to focus here and now.

''I'm sure i'll manage and besides...'' Nami said with a bright smile. ''...I trust him.''

I nodded at her and returned the smile. ''Good, that's the first step. A mutual bond of trust is needed for the student and teacher to learn from each day.'' A bead of sweat was visible on the crew, except for the giggling Robin who found all this to be a really bad sitcom.

''That was really corny.'' Usopp pointed out, followed by two other nods from the stooges.

''I know, I know. It sounded better when the old man said it.'' I started to draw circles on the deck with a gloomy atmosphere. It was funny hearing the small laughter or in some cases chuckles and giggles.

''So, what are you gonna teach me now, sensei?'' Nami still tried to loosen me up with that weird smile of hers.

_''Lazy girl wants to get off easy.''_ I thought with a mental sigh. ''I guess few more test runs won't hurt anyone, apart from you that is.''

I attacked again and tried to pick her defences apart with strong precise strikes. She was open as a book and it didn't take me long to disarm her and throw the staff away. Backing off, I gave her the time to pick the weapon up while I resumed my study on her.

Nami nodded at me as a sign that she was ready. This time I attacked with wide arcs closely followed by those stabs I hit her on the shoulder. _''She doesn't have much physics in that hot body of hers, so we'll have to up her speed and agility.'' _I backed off and gave her a small break. We've been training for quite some time and decided to end this with a last onslaught.

I held the staff with my both hands in a tight grip. Exhaling the rest of the oxygen out of my lungs. I took a strong leap at her shocked face. I used the right hands side of the staff to strike her shoulder. I was momentarily taken aback that she was about to block it. Quickly regaining my bearings, I used that strike as a feint and sweeped both her legs out with the other end of the staff. She landed back first on the deck and let out a short cry of pain from the contact. I wasn't done with that as I set my right foot on her bicep and the end of the staff right under her chin.

''Yield.'' I stated at her with a hint of pride in my voice. In all my life I have never thought of getting a student and this happens. Smiling at her, I threw the staff to the three stooges who failed to grab it and fell down from the rail they were cheering from. Ignoring their cries of protest and help. I offered Nami my hand to help her get up. ''Good job. I think you've deserved your rest.''

Nami seemed slightly depressed, but took my hand in hers and let me lift her up. ''Hai, sensei.''

A chuckle escaped my throat. I gently set my hand under her chin and looked her in the eyes. ''How about you get yourself a nice, long bath? I'll provide the water.'' She hesitated for a good five seconds, but gave me a cute nod. _''You know, with all that sweat and blush. She looks like she's just-. Alright, out of topic! Damn hormones going get me killed one of these days!'' _

''If sensei says so.'' Nami grinned and stormed towards the bathroom. The second she ws gone, Sanji stood in front of me. I couldn't help but sigh at him.

''What is it now?'' I said and crossed my arms over my chest.

''I knew you were much more cunning that you let on.'' Sanji narrowed his visible eye at me. ''To find a loophole, very clever.'' His voice was filled with sarcarms. I knew what he meant by that: Give the lady the option to choose like the real gentelman.

''That's what we ninja's do, right Robin?'' I looked at the newest member who gave a short nod. She was also the one who saved the three stooges from drowning. ''See?''

''Fine.'' Sanji grumbled but continued giving me the failed intimidating glare. ''But if something bad happens to her from your training-.''

''You'll do what?'' I interrupted him with a glare. Sanji was silent for quite some time. It wasn't like I hated the guy or anything. Its just that he's a pain in the ass for that chivalry stuff. Walking past him to the water-drawing machine under the stairs of the top deck. I began to pedal it to let the exhausted navigator get her bath. ''If only you were here.'' My mind went back to the time where I 'accidentally' called Susan a frail girl. My right hand automatically shifted to the nape of my neck and flinched in pain.

''Who should be here?''

I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings and started to search for the voice. My eyes landed on the sogged Luffy, Usopp and Chopper who were staring at me. I groaned from their stare as it was the same those kids gave me whenever I showed those 'magic tricks' of mine: admiration.

''No one you should worry about.'' I told them all since I didn't know who asked that. ''What do you guys want? I'm busy.''

Seeing Luffy rocking back and front like a impatient kid made me nervous. I knew he was excited about something. ''Are you really a ninja?''

I didn't know how to answer that. Normally ninjas were someone trained in the arts of stealth, infiltration and assassination, but I hardly am one, right?

Sure I got the stealth part covered as it was something I did out of survival. Infiltration, I robbed a secured casino with luck on my side. Assassination, killing is no problem for me here. I already got my first kill and that was those Baroque bounty hunters Robin sent after me.

But what made me hesitate was that in Naruto-world. People who use chakra are also called ninjas or shinobi. Whichever comes first that is.

I decided to humor myself and nodded with a smile. ''I guess I am.''

''Why didn't you tell us?'' Usopp inquired and sat down, closely followed by Luffy and Chopper. They looked like a bunch of kids ready to hear a story.

''I was afraid how you guys will take it. Ninja's are known to be ruthless assassins.'' I smiled at Usopp and Chopper who began to gulp a bit.

''So what.'' Luffy said with those nearly blinding starry eyes. ''I think its cool! I always wanted to see a ninja and now I have one as my nakama!''

''Your not afraid that i'll one day snap and kill you all in your sleep? You've done a pretty good job on driving me insane so far, Luffy.'' They instantly paled from it as I plainly laughed. ''Hahahahaha! You really think I would do that?''

''Yes.'' They bluntly pointed out.

''Spoilsports.'' I mumbled at them.

''LAND, HO!'' A shout came from the crows nest which I identified as Daxters. The three stooges immediately stood up and went to the front deck.

''So that's where that orange smudge was hiding.'' I grumbled from my spot. Seconds later, I saw Nami barge out from the door below the gallery and shouted orders around. I jumped off from the machine and saw Sanji steering the ship. I walked where Luffy and the others were staring at the island. _''Wait a minute. That's not Jaya.''_ I narrowed my eyes at it. _''I never saw this island before.''_

**[To Be Continued]**

No flashbacks now, but I did get some spoilers about Ezekiel's past. I might even dedicate a whole chapter about it, but that remains to be seen.

Ezekiel's and Robin's relationship? I'll put more of that sometimes later, but I hope I made it clear enought that he doesn't trust her. Not. One. Bit.

So yeah, the secrets out now and it has something to do with the next chapter. At first I though i'll make another ungodly amount of words here, but decided against it. I also thought it would be funny seeing Nami 'train' once in a awhile. This chapter was to just test her and come up with a way to train the girl, or bruise her.

Oh, and I might change the title, again.

Enough of that, review and have a nice morning! Or evening...


	40. Memory Lane

**Chapter 40: Memory Lane.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Near the Unknown Island]

_''I was right. This place ain't Jaya.''_ I gazed around us as Daxter began to climb up my body and sit on my right shoulder with a small scroll on his tiny arms. That scroll contained about 10 million beli's in cash. I had to make sure no one, even though they can't open it, find my stash here on the ship. Better be safe than have my hard earned money in Nami's clutches.

''Aah... I missed sitting here.'' Daxter sighed and handed me my storage tag which I forgot to take with me after storing the logbook and other art untensils in it. ''You got a lot to explain, mister. Those guys already filled me in on what happened. I wanna hear your side of it.''

I just nodded at him. The raccoon wanted to know my part of the story and he'll get one. Now wasn't the time though. There's something fishy about this island.

''This place looks boring. I wonder if there's a town somewhere.'' Luffy mused aloud. The guy took off and started to lead us to God knows where. ''Oh! I know! We might find a musician around here!''

''Luffy,'' Nami, now in her normal outfit, sighed. ''do we really need a musician?''

''Yes!'' Luffy vigorously nodded. ''We just lost a magician and now need a new entertainer!''

I could only shake my head at him. This guy will definetely leave a mark on history books world wide. ''I can still do those fancy tricks.'' I said and glanced to my left where a shadow went past the dense tree's around us. _''Whoever that was knows its stuff. It took me awhile to notice the thing.''_

Deciding to have fun with our human-shaped chaser. I patted Daxter on its head to assure him that everythings normal. The little pseudo-mammal was sweating once he got a sniff of the air. Probably thinking that an assassin was going to finish us. Or him.

''Yeah, but now that your a ninja, the purpose of-!'' Luffy's babbling came to an end as I pulled him back and let something whizz pass where his head was second ago. The crew were instantly on alert and back to back in a neat circle.

''W-Who's t-t-there!'' Usopp stuttered and tried to bring forth a strong frame around himself. He failed miserably. ''I-I'm n-n-not sca-scared!''

''10 o'clock, just one.'' Daxter whispered into my ear. I felt him grabbing tighter onto my shirt as I used the Body flicker into a nearby tree. I quickly pinned down our supposed assassin by grabbing its thin throat in a strong vicegrip. Adding more injury to it, I slammed whoever it was on the tree behind it, hard.

''Aaaaahh!'' It screamed in pain. ''Let go! Let go of me this instant!'' The voice shouted more. I didn't get much out of the person since its face and head was consealed by a black cloth. If I had to guess, this little one, about the age of 12, was playing ninja.

Ignoring the flailing kid who's gender was a mystery to me at the moment. I presented it to the crew who eased up from their stances.

''We were ambushed by a-.'' Zoro was interrupted by the ecstatic Captain who stared at our captive of the day with frightening amount of stars in his eyes.

''A ninja! We were ambushed by a ninja!'' Luffy cheered with an equal cheerful Chopper who sighed in relief when the danger was over.

Looking around, I saw Zoro sheating his swords, not thinking that the kid's a threat to us. Sanji shrugging and light another cigarette. Nami holding her clima-tact close to her body in case something bad happens and Robin was just standing there, amused by this all. Usopp was... where's Usopp.

I looked around again, trying to spot the ships liar and saw the guy was pathetically lying on the ground, clutching his chest where his heart is supposed to be. ''I-I'm hit. I lived a wonderful life, but I knew that it had to come to an end sooner or later. I never thought that the one who took down the Great Captain Usopp-sama would be ninjas.'' He then held his fist towards the sky with a weak grin. ''My last stand against 1000 ninjas will go into the legends!''

''I wasn't aiming at you, you dolt!'' The mystery ninja shouted and pointed at me. ''I was aiming at him!''

''Eh?'' I held the brat in front of me. ''Your supposed to be my assassin? I'm insulted.''

''What!'' The ninja screamed and tried to free himself. ''I'm the best ninja there is! I was taught by the best! Unhand me this instant!''

''Pff! A ninja, yeah right.'' I scoffed at the brat and threw the meatsack in black attire off. ''A fart is more stealthier than you.'' Shaking my head from side to side at the kid. I began to mutter about 'dense forests filled with kids on sugar rush' and 'this road might lead somewhere'. I didn't expect someone to say anything, but someone did.

''You might be right, Shinobi-san.'' Robin smiled next to me. ''There is a carriage trail lined up in the road.''

I narrowed my eyes at her. ''And your point is?''

''Its quite old.'' She pointed towards the ground where a thin yet noticeable line was in front of us. ''Do you think that where we're heading might be raided by bandits or pirates?''

I arched my eyebrow at the archeologist. ''I doubt it, but there is that.'' I looked at the jumping, happy Luffy with something close to regret. ''And Luffy's on cloud nine so leaving here's no option. There is also the fact that the kid here would be long dead without adult supervision.''

''Oi! I heard that!''

I shifter my gaze from the smiling Robin to the kid who started taking two or three steps back. ''Tell me, is the village still intact?''

''Hai, its that way.'' The ninja kid pointed at the direction we were already walking. It looked like he just forgot the whole ordeal of it attacking us. ''Just follow the road and it should take you there.''

I facepalmed at the kid. ''You know, proclaiming yourself as a ninja. You have to act like one.''

''What do you mean?'' The kid tilted his head to the side, but I could see it was as lost on my words. Literally.

''A ninja,'' I began with my mouth twitching as if I just heard a good joke. ''never reveals its village secrets to outsiders and possible enemies.''

''Wait what!'' The ninja kid started to panic and looked at the others for help. ''I-I did not! You tortured the information out of me! I don't know how, but you did!''

''*Sigh* When you blame others, you give up your power to change.'' I soft talked with the brat in black. ''A ninja must always change. If not for himself then for others.''

''But I thought ninjas only duty was to serve its master.'' It blinked at me, again forgetting about our earlier dispute.

''Duty is what one expects from others.'' I patted the kids clothed head. ''What do you expect from yourself? Do you have a goal to achieve? Or do you wish to grow stronger?'' The kid was thinking about it for a while, so I let him be. Slowing my pace a bit, I resumed studying the kid. _''He's like your average brat you see bragging about his dream. The kid's got potential, I can see that much in him.''_

''You seem to have taken a liking to him.'' Nami informed next to me.

''Him?'' I questioned. ''Its a he!''

''*Sigh* I'm sometimes thinking who's more dense around here. You or Luffy.'' Nami rubbed the bridge of her nose, but there was that small smile gracing her lips.

I buried my head inside my high collared shirt. It made me feel like a turtle retreating in its shell for protection. Only this turtle was red from embarrassment and tried to hide itself from the rest of the world. ''What's with me and gender confusing people.''

My shoulder's occupant shuddered a bit. ''I'd still say you should've gotten a restraining order from _that_ savage you met.'' Daxter said and rubbed his snout from somekind of phantom pain he was currently experiencing.

''What was that?'' Luffy woked up from his trance and stared at me.

''Nothing, its nothing.'' I waved him off and shook my head. Seconds later I felt a light tug on my pants. Looking down, I saw the ninja kid staring at me. ''What is it now?''

''Were close to my village. Can I ask you a question?'' He tried to be polite now. The kid also had that glint in his eyes that Luffy, Usopp and Chopper had hours ago.

''I think its rude to ask people questions without introducing yourself.'' I wagged my finger at him. Like I was scolding a child that was caught doing mischief.

His eyes widened to the size of twin cups. If we were on my world now, that stunt would freak the hell out of people. ''Moushiwake arimasen. My name is Raizo, pleased to meet you.'' The now named Raizo gave me a deep, respectful bow which confused the crew.

''What was that all about?'' Sanji asked Raizo who gave a up-and-down look at the ship cook.

''This 'Luffy' here said that senpai is a ninja and as such I am oblidged to respect my elders.''

I facefaulted when he mentioned 'elders'. ''I'm not old!'' Clenching my fist, I gave the brat of a ninja a good fist-sized bump on his head. ''Respect is something you earn, not receive.''

''Oh,'' Raizo looked down in thought. ''about your questions earlier.''

''What about them?'' I smiled down at the kid. It now occured to me that he had azure colored eyes which held those curious yet cautious eyes.

''My familys lineage comes from a great breed of ninjas. Our tradition has always deemed necessary to train and surpass the previous village leader. Every once in a while, the now village leader chooses their potential heir and decide to make a worthy warrior out of them.'' Here Raizo looked dejected. ''So far no one has gained the elders attention. They said that the future was too weak and had to up the training above the standards.''

''So you want to become a great ninja?'' I asked with a raised brow. ''Why?''

''Since my lineage is known for its efficient ninjas. The whole village are praising us as geniuses in the ninja arts. So its no surprise that they expect a lot from this generation.'' Raizo began to clench his fist in anger. ''If I fail, my familys name will be nothing but a stain on this long lived tradition.''

''That's pretty stupid.'' Luffy bluntly pointed out, earning a smack to the back of his head by Nami who scolded the captain.

''Its not stupid! Its my dream!'' Raizo shouted, his azure eyes glaring daggers at Luffy.

''He's right.'' I told him with a scowl.

''What the hell are you saying!''

I sighed at him. If what the kid said is true, he'll have to take a hard dose of reality from his chosen career. ''Almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.''

Silence fell among us as no one had anything to say. Raizo kept staring up ahead, but gave me a few hidden glances now and then. It wasn't like I wanted the kid to change his lifestyle, but to understand the severity of his choice. On our long walk towards the village, I gave the kid few pointers on stealth. Or at least my own experience on it.

We eventually saw the village after the long walk. The place was like your ordinary village with a street and people bustling around in their everyday life. What I found was funny was the men in blacks jumping around the rooftops. I managed to count five of them 'till they stopped and landed in front of us. One of them walked forward like it owned the place. I could practically taste the smugness from here.

''Halt!'' A sharp, commanding voice said. ''Who are these strangers you brought here, Raizo-kun.''

The kid Raizo gave a quick bow to the ninja in front of us. This time I was sure as hell that it was a she. No one could hide that waist and...

''This one here,'' Raizo pointed at me. ''is a fellow ninja from the seas. I thought Master would like to see one.''

_''I don't know what you mean 'fellow', but I'll play your little game, little man.'' _I thought with a small smile. If he meant those Naruto ninja's, then I'll finally get my chance to fight someone on equal grounds.

The ninja woman was thinking and held her hand high. Her suborbinates around vanished in a blur of speed towards the rooftops and started to observe us from afar.

''Very well, my squad will escort you to our temple.'' She nodded her head at me. Shrugging at the weird ninja girl, I walked next to Luffy who stared at her in amazement.

''A real ninja in a ninja village!'' He shouted in glee. ''Is this your home island?''

''No,'' I told him with a smile while ignoring Sanjis attempt to hit on our ninja escort. ''My home is a lot different. First, its much bigger than this island and it has all sort of tech around.'' A sudden idea came to about my home. ''You know what? I might have pictures about the place? Just ask once were back on the ship.''

Luffy nodded with a vigour and resumed his stare at the ninjas hopping around. I could feel that these ninjas had as much chakra as your average martial artist or genin. That or they unconsciously train chakra control exercises. Which is something I looked forward to.

The other pirates beside Luffy were silent and I was glad it was that way. The kunoichi kept glancing at me as if she was studying me.

That's supposed to be my job.

_''Women in tight black outfit.''_ I thought to myself. _''Now I get what's wrong with me and women in tight blacks: Catwoman.''_

''Were here.'' The kunoichi said with a emotionless voice and stopped in front of a huge tempel behind the torii gate. It was about three stories high with the word 'Night Wind' neatly on a huge banner. I found it was cute with the little shurikens decorating the obsidian flag. It looked like stars.

Walking inside, I wasn't really surprised to see a grand dojo with wooden floor and walls. It was like going back to Japan with master where I visited that one shrine tempel and old men doing katas.

That and participate on one of those tournaments where I got my ass handed to me. Cultural differences aside, the people there were extremely strong.

The men in blacks were moving in synchronized movements down to the last man. They all looked like 10, maybe 15 years older than me. What I found nostalgic was that they all performed the katas to a elderly lady in white kimono. She looked into our direction and I felt her eyes locked in mine. As if I was an annoying puzzle that has to be solved no matter what.

''Stop.'' The old woman said with a old, raspy voice. I felt a pang in my heart hearing her speak. I deftly ignored it as her gaze was still on me. Her students, I assumed, scrabled to the end of the walls in a neat line. The ninjamen went into seiza position and stoically looked at our direction.

''Creepy...'' Usopp shivered and stayed close to Zoro incase we were suddenly attacked.

Daxter was busy marvelling the place. ''You know, it would be cool if we could get a dance party going up in here. Like a rave. I bet the acoustic of this room would be intresting.'' He then nudged me in the head with a grin. ''And our escort seems to have hots for ya, eh.''

Speaking of our escorts, Raizo and the kunoichi left our side long ago and bowed to the old lady at the other end of the dojo. Another pain shot through my heart. It took me everything not to get depressed and mope all day.

''What do you guys think is gonna happen.'' Nami asked, or more like asked me. This ninja thing I was confused with is starting to get severely annoying.

''They could execute us for trespassing their temple. Escorted or not.'' Robin bluntly remarked. I forgot that the woman had a knack for those things. ''Isn't that right, Shinobi-san?''

I gave a glance at her and narrowed my eyes. She's been but an annoyance the day I met her. ''Whatever, they can try for all I care.'' I looked at Raizo's direction and felt bad for the kid being reprimanded by the kunoichi. The scene bought a lot of sad memories which I tried to suppress during my visit. Too bad I couldn't hear their conversation.

''You can come now.'' Raizo waved at our direction. A bit remorseful, but hid it well enough to not seem out of place.

We all nodded at him and took a step forward when the kunoichi held her hand. ''Stop.'' The same commanding voice echoed through the dojo. ''Master wants to talk to _him_.'' She pointed at me with narrowed eyes. I didn't know what I did, but she seems to resent me for unknown reason.

''That's my cue I guess.'' I shrugged and let Daxter hop out of my shoulder.

''What if they attack you? Those guys look angry for some odd reason.'' Nami told me with a tint of paranoia in her voice. She was uncomfortable about these 'shadow warriors' surrounding us and not having me around as the meatshield I am.

''Awww... how sweet, makes me want to puke.'' Daxter rolled his eyes and I was 'this' close on kicking his head upside down. Thankfully, I didn't have to as Nami deftly kicked the thing away.

''I'll be fine.'' I waved their worries and took my weapons off. Crouching down, I gently set them down and bowed to the dojo. It was something that came out of instinct or maybe it was because I felt my late masters eyes upon me. Daring me to give him an excuse to rise from the dead.

Respecting other dojos was something that was drilled to my mind back in the day. If not, well, the answer lies on the back of my head. Literally and figuratively. It now occured to me that I could've sued the hell out of the old man. Abusing children like it was an everyday job. Come to think of it, it was an everyday job for him whenever I was involved.

''Greetings child.'' The old woman smiled at me as I walked towards them. I took the seiza-position next to Raizo's still covered face and smiled at her with a short bow.

''Likewise, Shishō-sama.'' I tried to sound as honored as possible and I was. I could tell she had that same aura my master had. ''If it's about our stay here then I understand. We mean no harm and leave the second our log pose sets itself off.''

She just waved me off with a gentle smile. ''Of course, you youngsters seem to be the kinder ones. Unlike the rude kids we've grown accustomed.'' The old woman chuckled behind her mouth. ''And now we have such a polite young man in our humble dojo. Your teacher must be very proud of you.'' The last one made me cringe and the guilt swelled over me again. She took notice of it and gave a sincere smile.

''I hope he is...'' I whispered to myself.

''So, he's gone.'' The old woman stated and I was really grateful she didn't take pity in me. I gave a light nod at her with a faint smile. ''He seemed to be important to you.''

A chuckle escaped my throat. ''Meant the world to me. But now... when he passed away, I don't know anything anymore.''

''Trust yourself.'' A old, wrinkled hand was placed on my shoulder. I didn't know when the old lady stood up from her seat and walked over to me. Looking at her face, she had the exact smile as my grandmother when she gave me a life lesson. ''You know more than you think you do.''

''I have my moments.'' We both shared a laugh. I didn't know how I always got along with elderly people, but came to resolution that it was because I used to hang out with the old man, a lot.

''Anymore questions, youngling.'' She said with a little sympathy. Maybe she lost someone important too, I don't know.

I glanced down at the fidgeting Raizo who gripped his knees, obviously discomforted about something. I felt like I needed to help him, but it wasn't my business. If the kid has something on his heart then its better for him to open up to his people.

And yes, I do know that I sounded hypocrite.

''No, ma'am. We just need to purchase some missing supplies and camp near our ship.''

''Very well, I'll have Hoshi-chan escort you.'' She motioned to the kunoichi in front of her who swiftly stood up and glared at me.

''Master,'' She began while staring at me. ''Raizo-kun said that he is a ninja from outside, right?''

''H-Hai!'' The kid said with a bit of doubt in his voice.

''Then I request a fight with him to prove my worth!'' I knew that her voice carried throught the dojo if the small gasps were any indication. Not that I minded a tiny spar, but can I really afford doing that. We were in a possible enemy island with their own guard surrounding us. Sure we can beat them, but that would only sadden the old lady in front of me I came to like in our short introduction.

''Now, now, Hoshi-chan.'' The old woman giggled. ''It's his decicion.''

''Declined.'' I shrugged at her with a small chuckle at seeing her growl. Her first impression on me wasn't what you'd could call civil. Spoiled people were something I detested and she belonged to that category. Standing up, I gave the nice old lady a respectful bow and walked towards the pirates.

''Did you have to antagonize her?'' Nami growled at me with a raised fist.

''I didn't do shit to her. The weird ninja girl feels troubled about my presence and wants to fight.'' I held my hands in front of me. I'd rather not be on the receiving end of that fist with the comical tick mark on it.

''So your not fighting?''

''Meh, I declined. Her reasons were selfish and I don't want to be mixed on this bad romance.'' After that, I just told them what the old woman said and bowed to the dojo. ''I got us a free roam permission from Shishō-sama and a bad mood ninja escort around the village.''

A growl was heard and this time it came from Luffys stomach. ''Can we go and eat now? I'm hungry.''

''Sure thing. It'll be my treat too.''

''You sure you have enough money?'' Zoro questioned with a quirked brow.

''Who's the man who robbed an entire casino?'' I crossed my arms over my chest as silence reigned over us. ''Thought as much.''

''You never told me how much you plundered.'' Daxter asked with and took his spot on my shoulder. I merely pointed at Nami and saw he made a 'oooh' sound. ''Nevermind pal.''

Ignoring Nami's glare at me and the grinning ottsel. We walked around the town with me waving at the kunoichi trying to tail us. Sometimes I pointed out her mistakes, which earned a shuriken near my foot. She probably thought that I got the message, but I didn't and continued to be the living pain in the ass I am.

''D-Don't anger the n-ninja, Ezekiel.'' Usopp stuttered and kept looking at empty rooftops where Hoshi was supposed to be. She knows her job, i'll give her that much. But that doesn't change the fact that she's a dick... or whatever you call girls acting like that.

''Oooh! I smell something good!'' Luffy shouted in frenzy and made a beeline to a small restaraunt with a chimney on top of it. We followed the hungry captain to the restaraunt and took our seats inside the dark wooded small establishment. Moments later a brunette waitress, who was assaulted by Sanji in a blink of an eye, gave us our menus containing different japanese cuisines. The guys already choose theirs so that left me as I had trouble deciding what to eat.

''Uhm,'' I began and got another twitch in the corner of my mouth. ''I'll take two miso ramen, thank you.''

''Anything else?'' The waitress sweet smiled at me. Something I got a lot during my stay here in this plane of existence.

''A melonpan and green tea.'' But I guessed it was because she wanted me to buy more. It is understandable.

''Right away, sir.'' She bowed and went to the backroom where I thought lied the kitchen. Kinda felt bad if she was the only entrepreneur around here, but eased up when the sound of people talking was heard.

''There she goes...'' Daxter sighed and his seat next to Usopp. ''Did you see that, she kept looking at me. Finally someone acknowledges my greatness!''

I took one of the chopsticks lying on the table and began to twirl it between my finger. All of this was beginning to remind me too much of home. Its been about one and a half year when I got here and these riddles just keep popping around like... grasshoppers. Or the facehuggers from the movie Alien vs. Predator.

''A beli for your thoughts, Shinobi-san.'' Robin said and leaned on her left hand which was being supported on the table we surrounded.

I gave Robin a glare, still not very trusty of her and I was sure she knew that. ''I'm sure its none of your business.''

''You'll never know,'' Stubborn as the day I met her, figures. ''may I ask you a question?''

_''She wants to what?''_ I blinked at her._ ''Does she even know I don't trust her and I might just give her false information about what ever the hell she's going to ask.'' _I thought and came to a resolution. ''What is it?''

She seemed surprised about that, not expecting that I'd be willing to answer her question. ''What is so speacial about those sharingans? I have never seen something quite like it.''

_''That makes us two.'' _I wasn't expecting her to ask that, but decided to humour her and the rest of the table. ''Its just a random eye jutsu, why?''

''Can you tell me more about them?'' Robin leaned forward with a curious glance, as if she was humored about all of this.

''And pray tell me; why should I?'' I narrowed my eyes, but decided to facepalm when Sanji slammed his hand on the table. Gaining some attention to us from the other customers.

''That's no way to treat a lady, shit eyes!''

''I don't care if she's Aphrodite. I treat anyone the hell I want.'' Sanji kept growling at me until our food arrived. I thanked the waitress who scurried off with a blush. I thought she blushed because she was too embarassed to be near us. Not that I blame her since Luffy started hogging food like a vacuum with bits and pieces flying around.

''I knew this food was great!'' He shouted without even looking at his food. I chuckled a bit, he reminded me of my tall uncle who goes by the motto: if it smells good, looks good and feels good? Then it is assured that it tastes great. The man was crazy, but in my book he was the sanest person in the world.

I started to eat my ramen in much slowed pace than usual. We already attracted quite some attention and Hoshi-teme was keeping an close eye at us. She was currently above us on one of the restaraunts supporing roof pillar. I didn't know what her problem was, but if she wants to fight then she has to ask me nicely. Or present me a homage, preferably those Globe's.

I also noticed that ramen wasn't really my favorite food, but I'd say its a change. Maybe a bit salty for my taste and the meat chunks on it were a slightly soggy. I always prefered grilled meat.

''So what now? Do we get a hotel or something?'' Zoro asked me.

''I promised the old lady that we'd stay close to the town, but not that close. The people here aren't really trustworthy of letting pirates behind their backs.''

''Cool! Were camping!'' Another twitch appeared on my mouth. ''Do we have our camping bags and stuff?''

''No, but I could get some. I bet there's a shop that sells those... 'stuffs'.'' I said and finished my second bowl of ramen. After that, I got my dessert and was about to eat when Chopper, who was silent for a while now, asked me a question where I resisted the urge to groan.

''Ne, Ezekiel-niisan,'' Chopper tried to get my attention. ''If your eyes aren't the cause of a random genetic mutation. Then what are they?'' I kinda felt that the little reindeer was siding with Robin by asking me that. Knowing full well that I promised to tell him everything I knew about the eyejutsu.

''How to say this...'' I took a sip of my tea and liked the taste. I decided to tip the place properly once we leave. ''There's really nothing magical about the sharingan. Sure, my eyes has more chakra coils and neurons in it than the average human-'' Here I was intrerrupted by Usopp who's food was being snatched off by Luffy without him noticing.

''And by average human you mean...'' Usopp trailed off.

I sighed and took on of the chopsticks I used to eat my ramen. ''Think of this as your eyes optic nerve. Now imagine that inside of this wooden stick helds your retinal blood vessels, nerves and other tissues,'' I took another sets of two chopsticks making the amount I held now 5. ''this is about the size of my optic nerve linked to my brain. Because the structure is altered, they absorb light much better than normal and that resulted in far better eyesight. Like the detailed vision, perception of time and movements, crap like that.''

''I get it! It's your brain that operates faster. The eye itself regulates the process.'' Chopper came to a conclusion. That was really pretty much mine and Triton's theory, but decided to add more for him to brain storm later.

''Very good, Tony-kun,'' I patted Choppers hat and share my last piece of melonpan with him. ''not many people posesses the actual control of their chakra to do that on purpose without mushing up their brains into paste. They mostly had to let their bodies get accustomed to the massive change by itself. Which would take eons to develope, unless your immortal. Or risk of sensory overload and loss of sight and/or other senses.''

''Does that include your lack of sleep?'' Nami asked.

''I doubt it,'' I said and took a sip of my tea when a thought came to me. ''but it is plausible.'' Finishing the rest of my tea. I unrolled my scroll and took a large, generous amount of money to pay our tab. I did of course place a 'small' tip for our waitress, if only to remedy Sanji's constant flirts.

Nonetheless she thanked me for it and wished us a good evening. That was when I perked up and looked at the setting sun. The shops were open so that left me with some time to get our camping equipments for the night.

''Camping! Camping! Camping!'' Luffy shouted on and on where he got us some unwanted attention from the villagers.

*BAM!*

''Alright, alright. We'll go to this stupid camping.'' Nami grumbled. She then pointed her finger at me with a glare. ''You better get me a tent and a sleeping bag. I don't want any insects crawling on my smooth skin.''

I cracked a smile at her sassiness. She's acting like her old self again.

''Sure thing.'' I was about to walk towards the town for our supplies when a voice stopped me.

''If its not too much asked for,'' Robin said with a short pause. ''I'd like to look around, but our escort here doesn't seem to trust us as much as they do you.''

What stuff was she on? The ninja girl hates my guts as much as anyone else around here. If not more, but that's beside the point. I didn't understand what she wanted, thought I could make a solid guess.

''Your point is?''

I knew what the elder woman wanted, but decided that it would be better if she asked herself. I'm not gonna be her babysitter and she better behave. Not that I doubted her to go ballistic around her. It was more likely that I don't trust my back to her.

Hell, I trust Usopp to have my back more than her. Or Daxter, definetely Daxter.

Regardless, Robin put on the fake smile, but there was that glint in her eyes that held some kind of hopefulness in them. I don't want to seem like a bad guy here and crush that. She looks pretty suicidal to me and me adding fuel to the fire would get me more problems than the time I hid Suzan's panties because she was...

''What do you say?'' Robin apparently asked me the question during my small mental rant. Not wanting to lose my cool here. I simply nodded to whatever she asked me and saw she smiled in appreciation. ''I hope I won't be a bother.''

Naturally I was confused about what she meant. But seeing her walking few steps ahead while getting weird looks from the pirates in front of me. I tilted my head in confusion and asked a question which sent them in a fit of facefaults.

''What did she say?''

''WEREN'T YOU LISTENING!'' The straw hats shouted gaining us more rep around if that was possible. Thankfully it was Daxter who cleared things us.

''You just agreed to let her company you while we find a place to camp.'' He then proceeded to ruffle my hair with his tiny paws. I could practically smell the grin on the ottsels snout as he moved towards Zoro's shoulder. ''Have fun, bub.''

''Oh God no...'' I palmed my face in agony. The sound of giggling didn't help me in the slightest as I gave the newest member a death glare. ''Taking advantage of my ADD are we?''

''You have ADD!'' Chopper all but yelled at me. We were pretty lucky that the villagers already dubbed us as a bunch of retarded teens so the animals talking went to deaf ears.

''What's ADD?'' Luffy asked while picking his nose to emphasize his confusion.

''Attention deficit disorder,'' I told him, but was sligtly humored and greatly discusted that the Captains finger went highed up in his nostrils. ''I get these tendensies to space out once in a while.''

''I still don't get it.'' Luffy said and I could swear I heard something squishy noises coming from his head. The thought that he's picking his brains might be why the guys so... out.

''Of course you don't.'' I sighed in defeat. Not because of Luffy picking his brain matters, but because I have to babysit someone 10 years my senior.

''We'll have another medical procedure once your back.'' Chopper glared at me. I could live with that, not that I was mindful of the reindeer taking his duties more seriously. He had that same glance in his eyes that the old lady had. Curiosity.

Maybe its because he's never seen my illness or he simply wants to help. Nodding at the doctor, I walked towards the smiling Robin who kept staring at us from a small distance. I figured it was either she was too ashamed to be close to us or that she wanted to watch the event from a different point of view.

''Where to now, Shinobi-san?'' Robin asked as she gave a small look over her shoulder at the other pirates. I figured that they would be camping somewhere in that direction, so I wasn't that worried about finding them. I just have to do that before it gets too dark.

Fighting ninjas in the dark doesn't as sound convenient as nailing jello to a tree. Of course this all pales in comparison with the woman next to me who can snap my spine without batting an eyelash.

_''At least this can't get any worse than it already is.''_ I wistfully thought, but that moment was utterly crushed by the flashes of black lines jumping across the rooftops. _''I just had to say that...''_

**[To Be Continued]**

So, a ninja island you say? How charming.

I knew I could put a lot more effort into this, but I just winged this whole chapter. Mainly because I've been _extremely_ busy lately and had stuff to do. I doubt you guys care about my feeling here.

If someone knows where the name Raizo comes from, then guess what. Your _amazing_... I wrote that with as much sarcarms as I could put into it.

And oh! I might have put some hints that there will be a special quest here. Once I get enough data about them that is. But I'm not gonna tell who it is. It might be someone from my neighbour or the boogieman under your bed.

Who knows? I certainly do.

10 out of 10 doctors recommend reviewing in exchange for healthy and long life. And yes, it is non-negotiable.


	41. In Memory Off

**Chapter 41: In Memory Off...**

**Dislaimer: I think repeating this forty time is enough.**

[Ninja Island, Ezekiel's POV]

I remember once saying that I didn't hate Robin, just disliked her, a lot. Don't get me wrong, she's a cool character and all, but certain events she did in the past were unnerving. I already had my share of backstabbing, I don't need another one on my record.

I know it isn't really fair for me to judge people because of their past actions. But being near her is making me squeamish with paranoia. As if the second I turn my back to her, multiple arms sprout around me and snap my spine in half. That crack, snap and pop all in one go.

This might be the second time I'm jealous of Luffy's rubber powers.

''You seem agitated around me.'' Robin stated the obvious with a small giggle she let out next to me.

I gave her a glare from the corner of my eye. ''Don't flatten yourself. I'm just trying to reduce the urge to kill you.''

She wasn't really mindful of my threat, but the word got through. I didn't know that I could actually kill anyone once arriving here. Sure it was illegal, but here it feels like it came naturally. Like I was supposed to be a killer. That thought made me shudder. If that would be my destiny, then it would probably be for the best for me to lounge here.

Not that I believe in destiny. There's got to be a explanation _why_ am I here in the first place.

''Shinobi-san,'' Robin stopped and looked at a random direction. ''I think this shop would be a good place to search for the equipments.''

I turned my head and looked where she was staring at and let out a small snicker. ''The Wild El Sliezo's, sounds more like a bar to me.''

A bar it wasn't, but a camping and other miscellanous shop it was. The interior wasn't all that impressive with the dark, gloomy athmosphere. Beside those creepiness, I saw few sleping bags and tents lying around so this shop'll do it.

Looking at Robin, I saw she was just exploring and not doing anything suspicious. I shook my head and walked towards the salesman with the weird circular eyebrows and lips. I instantly blamed this poor guy as Oda's failed sketchbook characters.

I even took a slight pity on him.

''Excuse me,'' I began and tried to be respectful to the possible shop owner. ''I'm looking for durable tents and sleeping bags, do you have any?'' Of course he had, but it was better to ask rather than just take the thing and pay. He looked like someone who enjoys human companionship and I might get a discount on my purchases. _''God, that's something Nami would do.''_

The salesman smiled, or tried to smile with the odd mouth he had. ''Sure! We have all kinds of material. Are you looking for something durable? Able to resist even the harshest storms? Or are you looking for something more comfortable for you and the lady you walk in with?''

A tick mark appeared on my forehead and the giggling Robin didn't help to ease my slight frustation on the shopkeeper. ''Just... give me the best two-person tent you have and seven sleeping bags.'' I told him, banning all my civility because of that sentence. The keeper chuckled nervously and went behind the door next to the counter which I thought was the storage room.

It was also then that Robin finished her little tour around and stared at me. ''You forgot one for yourself.''

I scoffed a bit. Not at her but at the idea of me sleeping after my three days. ''Don't need one.''

''Why is that?'' She curiously asked and leaned forward on the counter. ''I thought that since you've slept for three days straight, you enjoy resting more than Kenshi-san.''

I figured that she refered that to Zoro and let it slide. Honestly, that one suits him better. ''Insomnia. That was my first time sleeping during our days in the desert.'' I shrugged, something that came automatically whenever someone asked me that.

''Oh,'' Robin's eyes shot up. Or so I thought from the slight jolt in her body language and made a mental list to learn deciphering those. ''an illness?''

''Call it whatever you want.'' I narrowed my eyes in front of me. ''I call it a blessing with a curse.''

''Why is that?'' Robin inquired with a fake smile, but there was that lingering curiousity in her voice that she was unable to hide.

I don't know what made me compelled to talk with her. Maybe it was because of the coming night and that I'll spent quite some hours alone. Imagine that. ''Because no one has to feel vulnerable while sleeping.''

''I see,'' She said with a light, understanding smile. ''Your suffering for their safety.'' Robin more than asked, she stated that fact, again. I'll give her the credit of reading people better than me, regardless of how stoic they act.

''Suffering is such a strong word, don't you think so?'' I looked towards her direction and could've swear I saw her flinch. I was also ready to ask more when the shopkeeper came back with my orders.

''Here you are sir, that'll be 2 million beli's'' My both eyes shot up and so did Robin's.

''That much for these?'' I questioned him, thinking that the man in front of us was ripping me here.

''They are our latest models and we sell the best of the best.''

_''Yeah right.''_ I mentally snorted and took another look at the shop. ''500,000 beli.''

''1,5 million.''

''600,000.''

''1 million!'' He shouted with a vibrating eyebrows. This time I snorted at him and turned around to face my back to him.

''Forget about them.'' I said and turned around to leave when the shopkeeper shouted again.

''Alright! Alright! 200,000 beli's then.''

I grinned at him, like I'd fall for that. ''75,000, then its a deal.'' I kinda enjoyed seeing him nerveous and I was sure Robin also did.

''Fine, take your damn stuff.'' He grumbled, all his nice-guy thing vanished and replaced with a lazy clerk that he is. Smiling, I quickly pulled the sum without alerting the guy about the smoke rising from the scroll and set it on the counter. He grumbled a bit, but collected the money and glared at me.

''Thank you~!'' I sweet smiled at him, much like Nami when she rips someone off. _''She's rubbing on me way too much. I better take my distance from her.''_

Now that I had the stuff in my arms, I had to resist myself not to store the items so as to not scare the s'hinobis' tailing us. People don't like Devil Fruit and I think that implies my shinobi skills too.

So we walked out from the camping shop and thought that the next one would be a crocery shop. Thankfully it wasn't as excruciating as the last shop and the clerk there was even willing to find the foods Sanji wrote on a list of needs. I didn't mind that, as long as I get food and Luffy stops whining I'm cool with it. I was even lucky enough to seal the previous items away when the clerk was busy.

It was after we walked out from the shop when I noticed Robin standing still and looking to her left. I also stopped and stared at her blank stare. She seemed to be in her own world, just staring somewhere like a retarded puppy. I looked at the direction she kept her gaze and quirked an eyebrow. _''Bookstore?''_ I thought to myself. It was also then that I remembered that she has a thing for books of all kinds. Be it new or old, she'll love 'em like... a bloodstained doll?

Yeah, a terrible work comparison, I know.

On one hand, I didn't want to give her the pleasure to wander around and get in my way. But on the other, I slightly understod her. Not by much, but enough to know that she really wanted to visit the small building.

Still in her own cloud nine, I walked in front of her and waved my hands in front of her face. That seemed to break any thought she had and expectantly looked at me. ''Something wrong?'' I inqured and tried to act oblivious to her behaviour.

''Its...'' She bit her lip for a second and let out a small sigh escape her lips. ''Its nothing.''

''Good,'' I smiled and walked towards the building she previously stared. ''I want to see that store there.''

I thought that I imagined it, but I could've swear I heard a small gasp of surprise behind me. Tapping my right ear to get rid of the sound I definitely misheard. I heard the same voice again, this time it was a giggle from Robin who walked behind me.

Not that I was warming up to her or anything. Its just that if Sanji finds out he might have his fits again.

I opened the door and heard a small bell ring that was attached above the door I just now entered. The noise alerted the shopkeeper and I saw it was a middle aged woman with streotypical librarian outfit and brown hair. At first I thought she was somehow related to the waitress back at the restaraunt, but dismissed it as me being with Robin. Smiling at her I looked around the small collection of books around us and behind the counter. The shopkeeper returned the smile at me and greeted us with a short bow.

''Welcome, how may I help you?'' She asked, straight to the business.

''Hello, just looking around. See if there's something intresting to read.''

The woman – now putting her glasses on to see better – nodded at me. ''Of course. Take yout time.'' She kept looking at me and Robin, who was gazing at the small collection of books.

''Didn't know you were into books.'' Robin said while keeping her eyes on the shelf. ''Come to think of it, do you have books in your collection?''

''If you mean books about romance, legends or myths then no. I only have literature regarding physics, math, life experience, those crap.'' I mumbled as I kept my eyes on a random book I picked. ''But if you want to know, I might have one or two.'' They were mostly the items that 'accidentally' came with me on my backpack. Hopefully she won't mind them being a little worn out.

''May I see them sometime?'' Robin asked, this time with a different aproach: politeness. Though, this was the first time that it was this obvious.

''We'll see.'' An idea came to me as I turned to Robin ''Take your time, its not that were in a hurry here. Or I hope we're not in a hurry.''

Robin flashed a brief smile. ''Sure.''

I gave her a few second long glare, not sure of myself that this smile here was genuine. Not paying any heed to it, I walked towards the booklady who had her back to me and quickly summoned the book about the navigation I took from Arabasta. The one child of Erumalu I'm trying to find around the Grand Line. Cobra said that he knew the father, saying he was an ex-Royal Guardian and one of his closest friends: hard to believe.

''Excuse me,'' I aproached our third clerk of the day. ''I have this book here and I'd like to know more about the owner.''

She looked at me with some amount of curiousity. I thought it was because not many guys my age ask information about books here.

''Yes, may I see it?'' She asked and walked closer to the counter where I gently lied the book down. She kept phasing throught pages of it while I kept looking around, leaving her to do... whatever she was doing and left it at that.

The ninjas were still following us and yes, JUST us. I was kinda worried if they'll get reinforcements and attack the other pirates. Or viseversa. _''I can already see the consequenses with the latter.''_

Shaking my head to get rid of the thought and Hoshi lashing out on me for 'disturbing' her job. I went to see what book Robin was reading. I thought she found a book about something old and Robin-like; which is an old, worn-out book. Peering over her should, I noticed she was good two, three inches taller than me.

Which is a serious blow to my male ego.

''Scheduled Chaos Theory?'' I blinked at the book title Robin held in her arms. Like it was made out of frail glass.

''Intresting is it?'' Robin said with a slight giggle. ''There are dozens of theories about the world ending and restoring.''

That last part made me confused. ''Restoring? That makes as much sense as... nailing jello to a tree.''

Robin visibly sweat dropped, not even bothering to hide that she had a reaction to my stupid metaphor. ''I think this is intresting. Its been written by a famous author too.''

I ignored the 'famous author' part. Its not like their anymore famous than those back in my world. ''You want the book?'' I bluntly asked, not caring if I sounded rude or polite. Its not like she cares how I'll act or anything. I bet Zoro being mean to her is enough.

''I don't want to be a bother.''

''Good, then don't be.'' I grumbled and wondered why am I doing all of this. ''Now, do you want the book or not? I'm not going to repeat myself.''

She just smiled, not really caring if I acted a bit aggressive to her. ''I would love that.'' She then took another random book from the shelf – or so I thought at first – and handed it to me. ''This book here seems to suit you more.''

''The Wandering Shinobi,'' I blinked at it, thrice in a row. ''is this for real?''

Robin didn't seem to get that I was serious. ''Looks to me.'' She said without sarcasm dripping in her voice. Either I noticed it and ignored the comment or it flew right over my head. ''Maybe you should read it and find out.''

''I don't know, this feels shady.'' I mumbled and studied the book from all corners. ''Like the second I open this book, I'll see my whole life written in there.'' _''Just like the Wastelanders book I found in the alley.''_ I mentally added. Whoever added the genjutsu was expecting me, or someone else who could dispel said illusion jutsu.

''Sir,'' The clerk waved at me. ''I think I have something.''

I nodded at her and saw Robin turning away while picking some random books again. ''You've found something cool?''

''Yes, I just remembered that I know the author. She visited this place about a year ago to publish her book.'' He she looked at me suspiciously, which startled me for a second. ''What do you want from her?''

_''Atleast I have a lead. Better to tell her the truth.''_ I smiled confidentally, not backing down from her glare. ''I'm here to give her parents legacy as per instructed.''

Her eyes widened from the information. ''Their alive?''

''No ma'am,'' I shook my head. ''their father left his final message in Erumalu. He said something about giving them these weird sun pendants. Can you tell me where they are?''

''They?'' She questioned.

''I am led to believe she left with her younger sibling. A teenage boy.'' I said and saw that the shopkeeper was thing about it. Something which made me a tad bit worried about the answer I might receive from her.

''Come to think of it,'' She clapped her hands together as if she had an epiphany. ''there was a little boy named Anan with her.'' She then let out a short giggle at the memory. ''The only way to recognize them as relatives was the spiral-shaped green eye.''

''That's them!'' I shouted in joy now that I have a good lead. ''Can you please tell me where they are?''

''Of course,'' She opened the navigation book and pointed at the small print. ''See this: it means that this book was first published on Water Seven. It wasn't really the most popular amongst the common books around, but certain events regarding them made her popular. Which then made this book a bestseller throught Grand Line for quite short time.''

''So their in Water Seven?'' I asked hopefully, but was saddened when the shopkeeper shook her head.

''Sorry, I don't know. Its been awhile since I last saw them.''

''Bummer.'' I held my head down in thought. _''So Water Seven it is. Kinda let's me wonder what the deed they did was which granted them popularity. Whatever, I shouldn't look a horse gift in the mouth. This just made my job easier.''_

''Everything alright, Shinobi-san?'' Robin asked beside me.

''What?'' I dumbly asked and looked at her. ''Oh, its nothing.''

''Are you sure?'' Robin held about 6 books in her arms and set then in the counter. ''You spaced out.''

''Did I?'' I questioned and rubbed the back of my head. ''Sorry 'bout that. I tend to do that from time to time.''

''It's alright.'' She waved me off with a smile. If that was fake or not, I couldn't tell apart. ''I got the books and found more for you too.''

I deadpanned at her. ''Don't tell me you took the chaos theory crap.''

The woman in the counter perked up at that. ''Hugh Benware's - Scheduled Chaos Theory? That's a great choice!''

I could only groan when they began their small talk about the book. _''Some women just want to watch the whole world burn.''_ It took her about 3 minutes to talk about the book and another 3 minutes to buy said books she picked up.

Of course I had to carry everything – including the sack of food I didn't seal into my scroll. Just when I thought that this whole day's over. It had to be ruined by 3 ninjas blurring in front of us.

''Where have you been?'' Hoshi asked with some amount of authority in her voice. Thankfully there wasn't any people around when she raised her voice a notch or two.

Deciding to be polite this time. I motioned to the sack of food and books. ''We had to get some supplies for the night. Our captains has to be fed unless you want this whole village raided by a hungry pirate.'' The last one sentence was supposed to be a joke, but that didn't register in their heads.

''So you do plan on taking over.'' She stated with narrowed blue eyes.

''Wha- no! Seriously, chill out. It was a joke.''

''I don't believe you.''

I sighed at her, not out of pity or frustation, but because she's even more pain in the ass than _her_. ''Whatever, it's not like I seek any acknowledgement nor trust from you.'' I told her and walked past the ninjas with Robin following me. Knowing her, she was just watching this event like it was a good sit-com show without the laughs.

I heard a feminine growl behind me and a light shifting indicating that someone was turning around. ''Why?''

I raised my brow at that. ''Why what?''

''Why are you such a coward!''

_''Okay, she's _really_ getting on my nerves. No one calls me a coward and lives to brag about it.''_ I glared at her with annoyance written all over my face. ''You got some nerve calling me a coward while your demanding challenges behind the glory of your dojo. I can see someone like you – a spoiled brat behind a mask – is a bad influece to those younger generation. You think everything will be handed to you in a silver platter? Fine, I'll play your little game. If a fight is what you want: then fight you shall get.'' Hoski smirked behind her mask. I decided that it was then that I'll beat that out of her. _''Looks like someone need a lesson in humiliation.''_

''Good,'' She crossed her arms over her chest. ''very good, meet me at the dojo at noon. Don't be late.'' That said, she and the rest of her suborbinates vanished in to the night.

''This should be intresting.'' Robin giggled and walked away. I guessed she knew where the others were and decided to follow her this time. Not that I'll ever admit it, I was pretty much lost in here with these dense woods. Maybe I should've take Daxter with me. I swear, with little more training, his nose could be on par with a bloodhound. Or a deaf rabbit with issues.

So we walked throught the dense, dark forest with the owls wooing about. Few seconds later, we heard some shouting and a light coming in front of us. I caught up with Robin walking ahead of me and saw she was much calmer than few hours ago.

_''Must be the books we bought.''_ I mildly guessed.

''Yeah, and keep it reasonable guys!'' I heard Daxter talking to the whole crew. A smile crept in my face. Out of everyone, the ottsel only talks with me and Usopp. Sometimes with Chopper or Luffy, but the rest are... detached from my little sidekick. ''Cause if you dissolve Styrofoam in gasoline, then you have napalm. Then there's no end to the kind of hell you can raise with that stuff!''

A tick mark appeared on my head. ''Man, what the hell!'' I shouted from the forest.

They all turned to me as I set the sack of food in front of Sanji while glaring at Daxter for slipping something like that. Now I knew why they were detached from him.

''What?'' Daxter asked in confusion.

''You just told them how to make napalm! I didn't even know how to do that!''

''What's a napalm?'' A intriqued Usopp asked as he took notes. I snatched the notebook from his hands and threw it into the campfire. ''Hey! I need those!''

''Do you know how dangerous that stuff is?'' I glared at the oblivious pirates. Though not as much as I did to Daxter.

''No...'' The whole straw hats minus Robin chorused with shifty, unknowing looks.

''Well it's bad news then!'' This time Daxter said. It was then that I noticed he was sitting on top of my chemistry book from my school. Including MY notebooks about MY project on weapons and chemicals used on WW2! ''If that stuff gets on you while it's burning, it's NOT coming off.''

''So then why tell them how to make it, genius!'' I shouted at him.

''Don't give me your crap! This is a lot better than YOUR idea about zombie survival guide!''

''But that's important!''

''Dude, that's retarded.''

''Hey SHUT UP! I know that somewhere, someday; there will be zombies waiting for us in our journey. And when we find one or flocks of them, your on your own.''

Not that there will be zombies in our journey, right?

Right?

The whole camp was silent after that. No one knew what else to add on mine and Daxter's bickerings. Fortunately, Luffy was the one to break the silence in his own way.

''Sanji! I'm hungry!''

That was the cue for all of us to roll eyes and me setting up the tent as per 'instructed' by Nami. I stopped a bit to think and smirked while resuming my current task while thinking about her. _''Someone just upped their training time.''_

''What are you smiling about?'' Zoro's voice said near the tent. I looked at the swordsman leaning against a tree while giving me a calculating look.

''Nothing, just that tommorrow – something fun is about to start~!'' I said in a sing-song voice and happily skipped towards him with the thought of tort- training Nami was going through my head.

Zoro raised his brow, not knowing what I meant by that. ''Whatever.'' He then looked at Robin, also with the same look he gave me earlier. ''What do you know about her?''

I gazed towards Robin reading one those book I bought for her. ''Beside the obvious fact that she has a fetish for old books. The woman is still a mystery to me.'' I looked at the tent for a good five seconds and smiled. ''I think its too early for me to judge, but so far she hasn't done anything suspicious.''

Zoro groaned, probably expecting that I had more info. ''Just keep an eye on her.''

''And pray tell me why?'' I took a spot next to Zoro, who I now saw had his swords leaning against his shoulder. ''Your as analyctic as I am. If not more, so why don't you do it.''

Zoro looked away from me. ''I... '' He stumbled in his words. ''lack the subtlety to aproach people without pointing a weapon at them.''

I could help it and laughed at him. ''Hahahaha! This is the thrid time, that the invincible Pirate Hunter Zoro admitted something! This just proves it! Zoro's getting soft, I wonder why.''

''S-Shut up!'' Zoro shouted while trying to grasp whatever pride was left in him. ''Go and play house with that she-devil.''

''Surely she can't be that bad.'' I chuckled at his implication. 'She-devil' really suits Nami, in more than one aspect.

''Are you kidding me? She just increased my debt because I refused to go and look for you two.''

I snorted humorously. ''Good thing you didn't or we would've have to sweep this whole island looking for you.''

'Will you cut that out.'' Zoro grumbled. ''I never get lost.''

''Sure, tell that to yourself.'' Out of every straw hats, Zoro was the only one I could talk seriously and exchange light insults without going overboard. Like our usual arguments with Sanji of course. There are also Nami and the mentioned cook to some degree, but Zoro seems to have more of that tactical combat experience.

Robin... well... she's still an enigma, but I'm sure she has something in that big brain of hers.

''Oi losers!'' Sanji shouted at us. ''Food's ready.''

''Don't need to tell me twice. I'm femished!'' I stood up and stretched a bit. This whole day's been a rather awkward day and Sanji better make something good. Not that I'll question his cookings, the grub he makes are great.

''Did you see some cool ninjas?'' Luffy asked between mouthful of foods. As usual, he was snatching them from nearby plates, mostly from Usopp or Zoro who were ignorant to their surroundings.

''Remember the ninja girl who kept glaring at me?'' I said and looked around the camp while getting some nods from them.

''What about her?'' Chopper inquired.

''I have to fight her tomorrow.''

''WHAT?'' They shouted – again – at the same time. Something told me that this will happen a lot often that I originally thought.

''Ya'll heard me. Tomorrow, noon, same dojo and the like.'' I shrugged and finished the last bite of my food.

''Wohoo! A ninja fight!'' Luffy cheered, something he also did quite a lot today. Beside the usual yellings here and there.

''Won't they get mad?'' Nami asked with narrowed eyes at me. Don't know why I got that look from her, but I betted it was because she thought it would be Luffy to cause havoc in here.

''The old lady said that it was my choice so I choose to kick some ninja butt!'' I fist-bumbed the sky, mostly because I get to preach someone like master did to me._ ''That, or I'll just have fun.''_ I thought and ignored the arrogant part of me saying to pull her pants down to add insult to injury.

I am a man after all. It's part of my nature to aggravate people or animals. I'm sure the cavemen use to do that stuff.

''Your going to fight a lady?''

Speaking of men and them being part of their natures. ''Yes...''

''You better not hit her.'' Sanji warned me.

''But she started it!'' I whined at him like a little child and defiantly crossed my arms over my chest.

''That doesn't give you any reason to hit a lady.''

I sighed at him with a shake of my head. ''Fine, I'll be a proper gentelman then.''

Sanji seemed to be surprised, like everyone else around the camp fire. ''Really?''

''Yeah, I'll give her a free shot THEN I'll kick her ass into oblivion.''

''Barbarian...'' Sanji mutted and I couldn't bring myself to care about his opinion. Mostly because those weren't a real reason to back out.

''You know what Sanji,'' I said as kept poking the campfire with a random stick I found. ''If you've met a friend of mine – who is a girl – and heard you say that. She would've skinned you alive with a bleach and a nail polisher for three whole days.'' A cold, malicious feeling creept against my spine towards the nape of my neck. ''That girl's bat-shit crazy.'' I hugged myself from the small mental trauma she inflicted upon me and tried to console myself.

''Who's she?'' Usopp asked after he got over his lie about the ninjas testing me with dangerous test to prove myself. He also added that he already completed said test and has nothing to worry about or something like that.

A sigh escaped my mouth as I motioned to his bag of pranking/weapon equipments. He rummaged through it for quite a few seconds until he got out my Iphone.

How it got in there is a mystery to me, but I assumed that a certain precursor has something to do with it. He better not tweak it or I swear I'll skin him like Nami's tangerines.

''Hand it over to me.'' I said and got the device from him. _''9825, still the same keypad number I always use. I better change it later.''_

''What's this?'' Luffy asked and sat next to me.

''A gift from a... friend of mine.'' I scowled at the memory. It was actually a birthday present from my stepmom. As mean as she is, that was a pretty good gift to give. But that didn't change the fact that she's evil.

''Oh, a mystery gift!''

''Yeah, that it is.'' I chuckled at his enthusiasm. ''Let's see... gallery... photos... aha!'' I found the photos I took during my time on... Earth?... I think. It was during that time I noticed that everyone – save for Robin – were practically breathing on my neck. As annoying it was, I tried to endure it for the sake of getting this behind me.

''Who's that.'' Nami pointed at the picture of me and Karen, with the latter pinching my cheek and berating me about something.

''That's my sister... well, my half-sister, but a sister nonetheless. This was taken after I refused to take her to a shopping trip. She started to get mad at me and one of her friends was close by. He took the picture of us arguing and made a sneaky comment of us being a old married couple. The next thing he knew, he found himself in the hospital with no memory of the happening.''

''She sounds pretty violent.'' Zoro commented as we all looked at Nami's direction with quirked brows.

''What's that supposed to mean!'' She yelled at us, a tick mark on her forehead and to make things more intimidating. She raised her fist – who also had that comical tick mark on it.

''Nothing.'' I slided my finger throught the screen for another picture.

This one was a old photo I scanned and saved into my computer. It was me – about 5 years old – sporting a rather vicious scowl on my face. I was behind a rowful of mourning people. The oddest thing was that I was crying in that picture and had a black suit on like the rest of the people. ''Oh... its this...''

''Why were you crying?'' Chopper, who took his spot on my lap looked up at me.

''This was taken after my mothers funeral. She died during her last two months of pregnancy from a thrombosis. They managed to save the kids from their deaths, but left them in a quite weak body due to being born prematurely.''

''Kids?'' Sanji asked.

''Twins. Both of them girls.'' I clarified him and change the funeral picture to me – now 8 years old – holding the twins awkwardly in my arms. There was also the faintest smile in the corner of my mouth. ''The left one,'' I pointed at the 3 year-old, black-haired, obsidian black eyed girl with a wide smile that made me chuckle. ''her name is Eve.'' Then I pointed to the other girl with the matching scowl I had during the funeral. The difference between her and Eve was the hair color, which was lighter shade of red and black, their eyes were the same. ''And she's Zoe. I swear, those two were like night and day. Just like democrats and republicans with their constant argue about health care.''

''I thought they were over it.'' Daxter butted in. I already told the ottsel about my past. It was only fair since I knew his – through a game I might add.

''Oh yeah, your right... nevermind.'' I waved them off before more question would pop up. ''Next one...''

The next image was 2 years later than the previous one. There was me; eyes closed, smirking and acting like the bad-ass I thought I was. _''Those were the good times... that is until that old coot beat it out of me.''_

''Who's the jii-chan behind you?'' Luffy pointed at the elderly man who had his hand around my neck while the other hand held an really old, familiar cane. He was good two heads taller than me in this picture and wore a really neat pure white kimono with a black cloth you usually wear around your midriff. I started to absentmindly stroke the screen as sadness overwhelmed me. There was the same bald head, the same long beard, the same wrinkled face with the same warm smile.

In ethnicity, he represented the Japanese folks. I remember he told me that he's from the northen side of the land. Shame we never visited it.

''That's my late master.'' I said, my voice barely a whisper as I still continued staring at the old man locked in my phone. _''Atleast he won't die there, I hope.''_

''Anything else?'' A intrested Robin asked next to the camp I set for the girls.

_''Wait wha-? Was she listening? But how did sh-! Oh... her Devil Fruit-powers. Should've known better.''_ I thought while glaring at the fake smiling Robin which sorta confused me. She was all happy and giggling awhile back, but now she acts like the stone she is. _''It has to be those books.''_ I shook my head to get rid of the small thought. ''That's all now. Off to bed, I have a match tomorrow.''

''Ninja fight!'' Luffy shouted, which was something he did a lot today. Ninja this, ninja that.

''You better not use your stupid tricks then.'' Sanji warned me. Again.

''Very well. It's going to be a strict taijutsu match.'' I turned the Iphone off and locked eyes(s) with Sanji who flicked his cigarette away.

''Weapons?''

''Depends, if she wants to use one, I'll do the same.'' I saw he was about to open his mouth when I beat him to it. ''No, I won't sit idle and let her charge at me with a lethal weapon. I don't care if she's the Queen of England, The Gorosei (Five Elders) or the Goddamned World Noble. Anyone who calls me a coward and/or attacks me with the intent to kill. I am well within my rights to defend myself anyway I see fit.''

Sanji was silent for a moment, probably thinking about something involving on how to save the kunoichi and pledge his ever growing love to her. ''Don't go overboard.''

I deadpanned at him. _''Is that all he came up with? With all that scowl and contempt look he gave me, I would've thought he had a snappy comeback in store for me. Perhaps he knew that this one out of his hands and there was nothing he could do about it.''_ Another sigh escaped my lips. ''As I said before. That solely depends on her.''

Those words said, I unsealed the rest of the items and let the guys take their sleeping bags. After some short, quick words of 'good nights', they all went to sleep. Leaving me in my spot in front of the campfire where I started to poke the embers with a stick.

**[To Be Continued]**

Warning: Dissolving Styrofoam with gasoline will cause a napalm. That stuff is proven and if something bad happens to you guys acting like a General Crash-n-burn, knock yourself up. I'm not responsible for your stupidity and I won't be surprised if I see some of you in the news, getting arrested for making late New Years bombs. Shit be whack yo!

Any-boohoo, the movie thing I'm writing should be around the corner. I'm not going to tell you which movie, but it is a movie nonetheless. But now I want to focus on this.

Well at least you got to see some character development in here and I promise that the next on will be the last filler charpter. I might even fastforward the whole thing till the whole bunch are in the sky.

I should probably start threatening people more often if I get those nice reviews you guys just did. It warmed my already non-existent heart and the universe felt a little bit emptier than it already is.

Oh, and I want to dedicate this chapter to my friend who got... uhm... murdered. It really hit me hard there. I just talked with the guy not 24 hours ago and next thing I get is a phone call that he was killed. Shit, it even got on the news that it was supposed to be a friend of his after the school party.

I might take a breather in here. Sorry for the inconvenience I brought, won't happen again.


	42. Ezekiel vs Hoshi

**Chapter 42: Ezekiel vs. Hoshi**

**Note: Hoshi means star, as in those massive, luminous sphere of plasma held by gravity. Just FYI.**

**Dislaimer: Let's get this over with.**

[Ninja Island, Straw Hats Camping Area, Ezekiel's POV]

This whole day turning night and then morning's been boring as hell. Beside the usual writing and drawing our log, that was the only thing that kept me from losing it. Lucky for me, that's about to change in about 5 hours. There wasn't much I did during the hours of my 'guard'. Just some random chakra control exercise by applying chakra to the embers I've been poking for 3 hours straight.

_"Maybe if I put enough chakra, I might be able to use Fire Release from an outside source. But now, let's just stick with the basics."_ I got this idea from the Water Release where you can gather moisture from the air instead from a nearby river or lake. I did this mostly because I remember the first time I used Katon. The result was a burned esophagus and a tongue. Couldn't eat properly for five days straight.

I eventually got bored and started to stretch my arms a bit. That was when I looked at the tent where the girls were sleeping. A thought came to me – not that thought – but the thought that I should wake Nami up and resume our training. Good thing I remembered to take those staffs with me, otherwise we'd have to train with random sticks from trees.

Summoning the staffs from my storage seal tag – a masterpiece of mine – I took out two staffs and poked the side of the tent where I knew Nami was. I even resisted the urge to shout like my father whenever I overslept for school.

The wonders of Marine training program he's endured.

"Wakey wakey, Nami-chan." I said and kept poking 'till I heard a groan inside the tent. I then walked towards the front side of the tent where I heard a zipper being opened and grinned when a orange hair bobbed out of it. "Good morning my gakusei (student)."

"What the hell are you doing? Waking me this early?" Nami softly shouted, not wanting to disturb the other tent occupant.

"Why you ask?" I motioned to the two staffs I held in my left hand. "For the glory of satan of course, what else?" I sarcastically rolled my eyes for her to ask me that. It should be obvious you know.

"Training?" Nami groaned again, this one was much more tiresome than the previous one.

"Yes, now put something on. I can see those cute yellow panties from here." I quickly evaded the fist she aimed at my head and took a good distance from her while maintaining my stupid grin. "And white top, nice choice. Now hurry up and put some pants on, geez."

Nami kept growling at me, but complied nonetheless and went back inside the tent. It was really funny seeing her get all red faced from the small tease.

So here I was, stading next to a river close to our camping spot. There wasn't anything special about here except the clear water and the smooth stones beneath my feet. Not long after I studied the area, Nami arrived, clad in brown pants and the same white top she woke up with.

"What now, sensei?" Nami said, not really sounding too enthusiastic as I would like, but threw one of the staffs at her. If she wasn't to act lazy, then I just have to beat that out too.

Including her short fuse.

"Tell me, about you previous battle with the Devil Fruit-user. What was the most common thing you were forced to do?" I asked, already aware of her fighting the spike-woman Paula.

"Uhm," She thought about it for a moment 'till she let out a small sigh escape. "I had to dodge those attacks of hers. One hit and it would've been all over." Nami shuddered from the memory, or so it seemed. It might be the sudden wind that just picked up on us.

"That sums it up then." I scratched my head and started to twirl the staff in my hand.

"What do you mean?" Nami questioned, this time she held the staff close to her. As if to prepare for something.

"We'll up your speed and agility. A Devil Fruit-power is useless 'till you land hit on your opponent." I quickly took my stance with the staff and stared at her. "Todays training, we'll focus on your evasive skills."

"Wai- what?" She tried to mumble something I frankly didn't care and wasn't keen on letting her finish it as I charged at her. I was a bit disappointed when she wasn't ready for the attack. Though she did surprise me by blocking said attack – even though I wasn't using my full strenght – she managed to hold it in a stalemate between us. Nami smirked a victorious smirk at me, like blocking the attack was a big accomplishment of hers.

Only thing she didn't notice was that the attack was intentional.

Instead of swiping her legs off the ground with the staff in my hands. I used my left leg and viciously kicked both her ankles upwards. She let out a small scream 'till her butt met the rocks beneath us.

"Word of advice: don't assume everything." I kept looking at her with narrowed eyes. "Get up."

"That wasn't fair!" She yelled at me with a accused finger pointed at me. "We were supposed to use our weapons."

"Your point is?" I crossed my arms over my chest. Nami was loss at words, probably not knowing how to defend herself from the verbal comment. "Listen, in a fight, everything is permitted. Sometimes you have to cheat, sometimes you have to... improvise, I guess. In this era, there are no rules about fair play. Pirates, Marines, civilians, everyone. No one will stop and think about fighting a fair fight. It's all about surviving." I stared to slick my hair back and sighed. _"I sound like that bastard Krieg, but you have to give him some credit, he knew exactly what he was talking about."_

Nami just huffed at me and continued glaring up at me. "Asshole."

"Stick and stones, Nami-chan. Stick and stones." I chuckled and helped her stand up from the ground. "Ready for another round?"

"Hai." Nami nodded with some amount of determination, or willingness to beat me.

"Alright, this time, try and attack me from different angles. Work of a advice: expect the unexpected." I took my stance again with a light frown. _"She's relying way too much on emotions. Anger being the most influnential, which doesn't surprise me at all given her status." _

"Come on, sensei! Take me seriously!" Nami shouted at me after she grew frustated from the constant dodging and not landing a hit. Not that I'll let her, what kind of a teacher let's his student hit him or her?

"If you say so." I chuckled and sped up my onslaught. It was funny seeing her getting worked up like this, but the funnies part was... _"Now."_

*SPLASH!*

Nami was too preoccupied to dodge the attacks that she didn't notice the river behind her and fell into it. The scene really made my morning and I just laughed at her misfortune.

"You did that on purpose!" Nami shouted, still lying on the crystal clear water that I've seen in this anime lately. At least they know how to take care of their enviroment.

Unlike some I can name.

"Hahahaha! That cracked me up!" I wiped the tear stain from my eyes and held onto my ribs from the constant laughter. It hurt so much that it felt good.

"Something else is going to crack once I get my hands on you." Nami warned me as she got of the river with a death glare directed at me. I didn't pay any heed to her murderous aura and burst into another fit of laughter once I got a look at her. "WHAT!"

I merely pointed at her white top which – bluntly said – was stuck into her skin. I mean, white cloth is NOT a good choice to wear unless your absolutely sure your not going to soak it.

And did I tell you she wasn't wearing anything beneath said top.

"I swear, its like christmas around you." I kept staring at her, amused at this whole thing as the navigator tried to cover herself. She was blushing a crimson red at the 'accident' I caused. Deciding that I hurt the pretty lady enough. I took off my own shirt and walked towards Nami who kept looking away from me. "Here, wear this. Don't want you to catch another deadly disease."

Grumbling, she snatched my shirt and turned around from me to change. I quickly turned around and let her do just that. Out of respect for privicy of course, I am a gentelman, to some degree. Despite her being a mean, violent girl with issues like me. She's a cool person and I'd like to know her more. That is only if she let's me, I don't know what's going through her head.

_"Probably a plan to choke me in my sleep. And not in a kinky way either."_ I thought and groaned at what just went through my head. _"I'm spending too much time with Daxter."_

"Did you have to do that?" Nami asked with her own narrowed eyes at me.

"I have no idea what you talking about." I smiled to myself and walked away from the river I stood on.

Should've known better than to turn my back to her.

*SPLASH!*

I heard a mischievous giggle coming from behind me. Like someone just made a grandious prank and it worked flawlesly. I quickly stood up because the water was cold as hell. I could see why she was mad at me. The good thing though was that it was vigorating, but still unwelcomed once you notice your drenched from head to toe.

"That was totally uncalled for!" I shouted and glared at Nami who was now laughing her ass off. Literally.

"Hahahaha! You should've seen your face! The mighty, stoic Ezekiel all flustered!"

_"Okay, now she's getting on my nerves,"_ I resisted the urge to sweep her legs – again – since she wore my shirt. It would be troublesome to wash it and I didn't have a spare on me. I slowly stood up and grumply walked towards a random tree where I leaned onto.

"Awww... did I hurt you feelings?" Nami giggled, which hurt my male ego I always thought was on equal terms with the Lincoln memorial. Not too large as the stone monument, but it certainly was as old.

Don't know if that made any sense.

"Shut up." I grumbled and looked away. _"One day, you'll see that one day I will have my revenge."_ During my mental preparation, I didn't notice my student/target of my revenge sat next to me. Yeah, I know our training wasn't really that intense. Maybe it was because we don't have any clothes left. Which would leave us training with nothing on. _"Not that I mind it."_

I looked at the clear, azure sky. Maybe it was because I don't have any suitable style for her and I don't want to disappoint her.

"Ezek-kun," Nami called. "are you mad at me?"

Or maybe it was because I'm getting too soft on her. "I can't be mad at you. Well sometimes yes, but that's only because I have a legitimate reason to."

She glared at me from her spot. "And that would be?"

"As I said, I have a legitimate reason." I grinned, don't want to tell her that everyone else on the ship have their own reasons. Some more than others.

"Feh, fine then." Nami said. "Are we done with training?"

"Yup."

"That was short."

"If your this excited about it. Then I'll just add more the next time we train."

Nami groaned in agony. Didn't know she was that much of a lazy ass. "What do you have in mind. You know, about the training?" She asked and edged closer to my shoulder. Deciding to let her do that, I closed my eyes and hummed the first song that came to my mind.

"You know, basic stuff; improving your reflexes, speed, agility, things like that. Sure you have the smarts to come up with a plan, but that would be pointless if your dead before you have one."

"Thanks for the word of confidence." Nami deadpanned and lightly hit my shoulder.

"Your welcome." I smiled a bit. It was nice to just relax and talk to someone after hours of poking fire. _"Maybe I could really open up to them. There's just so much I can bottle this up."_

"Say, Ezek-kun," Nami suddenly asked after dozens minutes of silence. "can I ask you something?"

_"Oh, crap."_ I mentally cringed, not wanting to seem out of place here. Prolonging the question a bit, I came to an conclusion that I should answer whatever she had in store. "Yeah, shoot."

"Why did you become a pirate? I mean, I don't mind you being here and all, but now that I think about it. The reason you gave me before isn't really a good reason. You don't just change from a peaceful civilian life to a pirate." She half-yelled, half-questioned. A odd way to ask a question while raising your voice.

"That's just it." I exclaimed. "Peace isn't really what I seek in my life. Sure there is that moment when I want to settle down. Have a family, wife, kids, stuff like that. But to do that, I have to be in peace with myself. So I thought: why not seek for nakamas and have an adventure with them? So now I'm here – doing just that."

Nami looked at me for a second, probably not sure if I was sane anymore. "That's... odd."

"*Sigh* I know, it sounded better in my head. Or what's left of it." We both shared a laugh, whether it was because of my sanity or my growling stomach, I do not know. I was about to stand up and search for food, but there was one little problem with it. Nami thought it was now – of all times – good time as any to lean on my shoulder. Not that I minded, but I was hungry. There's so much I can endure with empty stomach.

So I have two choices here now. Listen to my stomach demanding for me to get food or stay here, enjoy the scenery and probably starve to death. _"And women call us simple-minded. Let's just hope I'll make the right decision." _I was nerveous as hell for doing anything she might find awkward, but after a few minutes – which is actually a long time considering my dilemma – I was finally brave enough to drape my arm around her. _"If I die right now; there better be a parade in my funeral. I want champanges for everyone, my own memorial, twelve F-22 Raptor fighter aircraft doing barrel rolls over my coffin AND my life would be narrated by Morgan Freeman."_

"Hello, Ezek-kun! Wake up!" Nami shouted as she violently pulled my arm up and down.

"What happened?" I quickly jolted and frantically looked around for any danger since my paranoia kicked in. It seemed there wasn't any and I just freaked out for nothing. A light punch to my head made me look at the slightly irritated Nami who huffed at me.

"You spaced out on me." She then took my arm and much to my surprise, draped it over her shoulder with a blush. "Jeez, what's going through that head of yours."

"Believe me, you don't wanna know." I shrugged with a small chuckle. Sure I think a lot, but their mostly untrivial and don't make much sense. It has always been like that. I have an overactive imagination.

No wonder I made the Kage Bunshin right out of the bat.

So we were like this for God knows how long. Which was great and all, but the silence eventually grew out of me and I had to do something about it.

One thing about me is that if I get bored and hungry at the same time, someone going to get hurt. Badly.

[Break Time]

"You said that we don't have to train anymore!" Nami shouted at me from the ground.

"Sorry, I lied." I shrugged and looked at the sun. It was already high up there, so my match should start any minute now. "I was bored and hungry. And if I'm bored and hungry, something bad happens."

"I'll keep that in mind." Nami walked towards me. At first I thought she would hit me with the staff in her hand, but alas she didn't. Instead she handed it to me and gave a tight hug. "Thank you."

"Uhm, for what?" I said, confusion written all over my face. I would've returned the gesture had she not preoccupied my hands. Which in turn made me feel vulnerable. I usually have my hands available all the times. I could even say that their my greatest weakness, similar to Luffy, Zoro and Sanji to some degree.

I saw Nami was about to open her mouth. Probably to say something like how a great teacher I am, how I could kick anyones ass and that I'm simply the best. But that wasn't the case, the case here was the third voice that rung around the forest.

"Nami-saaaaaan~!" Sanji – a wild guess of mine – affectionally shouted and spotted us. Luckily Nami was fast enough to let go unless the cook spots something suspicious. Not that it was needed, but I was sure that it would create a lot of tension. Mostly between me and Sanji.

Sanji stopped and looked at me with narrowed eye. As if I had just commited a heinious crime. Which I might in his book by inflicting Nami a few bruises on her arms and legs. They would gradually heal in time, but that excuse wouldn't get me far with him in here.

_"I hate days like these."_ I shook my head and decided to be courteous for now. "Good morning, Sanji. How's your morning?"

"What's going on in here?" Sanji asked, now looking directly in my eye.

"Nothing." Me and Nami said at the same time. Not wanting to admit anything that we just spent time. Sometimes I wonder why we're doing this.

"Why is Nami-san wearing your shirt?"

I dumbly scratched the back of my head. "You see, here's the funny story. Nami-chan here couldn't sleep so she decided to beat the goat for seven hours straight."

"Excuse me?" Sanji asked, closely followed by an enraged Nami.

"I did what?"

"You know: sclitzed, under the table, canned, four sheets to the wind." I tapped my cheek in thought. I seem to have forgotten the word used for peoples condition after consuming a large amount of ethanol into their system.

"You mean she got drunk?" Sanji finally got it and gave me a strange yet confused look. Certainly better than the previous hostile look.

"That's the one." I clapped my hands. "So, after she smashed herself out of her skull. I found her next to this river all battered with bruises and internal bleeding. It took me hours to stop it and being the gentelman I am. I gave her my shirt and the rest is history."

Sanji instantly went to Nami and fawned over her 'injuries'. While the coast was clear, I slowly tip-toed away from the beating Sanji was getting and arrived at the campsite. _"Phew, crisis averted." _I wiped the sweat off my forehead and let out a small sigh.

The first thing I saw was the pirates packing the tents up. No one beside Robin – who flashed a brief smile – noticed me. Deciding to use this moment, I took whatever food I found and stuffed myself with it.

After long minutes of silence, Luffy was the first one to spot me and gave a huge grin. "Yo! Ezekiel! There you area! C'mon, we have to see the ninja fight!"

"Aye Captain." I playfully saluted and sealed the packed equipments in my scroll. After a minute or two, Nami and Sanji arrived with the latter sporting a numerous bumbs in his head.

"What's with the shirt?" Zoro asked out of the blue and pointed at the shirt Nami was wearing.

"Oh yeah that..." I quickly said and tried to think of another plan. "A... badger stole Nami-chan's clothes, so I had to give mine. Don't want a sick navigator now do we?"

"I guess your right." Zoro said with a tint of skepticism in his voice, but let it drop. Probably because it wasn't worth his time.

[Break Time, Night Wind dojo]

After Nami clarified my small cover story for her and beating the ones laughing. We made our way to the dojo and was greeted by the little boy Raizo, clad in his ninja attire.

"Greetings senpai." I palmed my face when he said that. It made me feel old and Zoro's snickering weren't helping me here.

"Don't call me that, squirt." I gave the kid a light punch to its head. Mostly out of humor because my todays opponent was glaring at me from the entrance. "Let's get this behind us."

"Took the words right out of my mouth." Hoshi said in a disgusted tone directed at me.

"So," Usopp began out of nowhere. "do you have a strategy or something?"

"A what?" I questioned him. "Uhm, I'll probably severe a limb or two with my bare hands."

"Can't you be more civil here, you shitty barbarian." Sanji snarled.

"I'm just sayin'." I replied with a shrug. "I understand the worry and _love_ you have for our ninja girly, but if she get's out of her line, I'm blowing her freaking head off."

After that we walked inside the commodore with much of a hasstle. Daxter went off from my shoulder and next to Zoro. That clearly surprised me, but not anymore since the fact was obvious: he wanted someone to protect him.

Sometimes I wish Pecker was here instead of him. The talking half-monkey, half-macaw would be more bearable, I think

"Ready to face your inevitable defeat, pest?" Hoshi leered or taunted at me, couldn't tell.

"Really, pest? Is that the best you can come up with?" I said, not getting riled up by the insult that's not even worth my salt. "I've been called much worse than that."

My opponent wasn't happy about my dismissal as she readied her _ninjatō. Go figures. _"I tell you what, how about we take a small bet here." Hoshi said with a little mischievous grin behind her mask.

"That depends on..." I grabbed my katana this time, seeing as the lenghtening tanto not only consumes chakra, but it wouldn't be fair. For me of course, and I had to keep my promise to Sanji for not killing her.

"If I win..." Hoshi smirked and looked towards Nami, or more precisely what's on her neck. "I get that girls necklace." I tensed a bit, which was unfortunately seen by my opponent. "So it is important to you."

__"Great, she saw through it."__ I took a deep breath to make a decision. If I lose, I lose my legacy from grandma, but if I win... "Deal, but what if I win?" I asked.

Hoshi nonchalantly shrugged, which said something about her confidence in her ability. "You decide."

A smirk appreared on my face as I grabbed my katana's hilt with both hands. "There's a bitch of an itch in my left ass cheek. After I win – which is pretty obvious – you'll get the priviledge to scratch it."

That set it of course. Hoshi was by now glaring at me murderously and the small laughters from her ninja colleagues didn't help make her even more angry at me.

I did say I wanted to humiliate her.

"Argh! I'LL KILL YOU!" Hoshi shouted and ran at me with an impressive feat of speed.

"That's my cue!" I grinned, excited at the fact that I don't have to hold back as much as I thought. My opponent swung her ninjatō from the right with both hands, obviously aiming to slice right through me. Unfortunately for her, I wasn't really that keen on letting her so instead of blocking the attack. I parried the strike downwards and jumped over the shinobi version of the katana. I wasn't done there as I added a roundhouse kick while in mid-air. The kick connected with the side of her head and sent her sprawling on the wooden floor. "Well that was rather anticlimatic. I'm being underestimated."

The other ninjas in the sidelines gasped with wide eyes. I guessed it was either she was their best warrior or because their master was applauding. I just looked at my katana, asking for somekind of clarification but only received a short giggle resounding in my head.

Looking at the ninja girl who stood up with her weapon still in hand. She gave me another one of her hostile glare which I was at this point used to. Living in the seas with Sanji does that to you.

"What was that!" Hoshi shouted indignantly.

"What was what?" I asked, this time confused at why she would be mad at me.

"We were supposed to use our weapons!" She pointed at her ninjatō. "And nothing else. That is the way of a ninja!"

"That sounds corny to me." I deadpanned at her. "Just so you know. We didn't agree on anything. As far as I'm concerned here, I can kick you around like a deflated football. Deal with it."

Hoshi growled and charged at me again with the sword. I saw she upped her speed, which I could've sworn was similar to Soru (Shave) from the Rokushiki. The only difference was that instead of going fast in a straight line. Hoshi attacked from all three available sides in fast blurs. Hell, I had problems defending myself here.

She was now going for a stab, not that I'll let her do that and deftly took a wide step back. The funny thing I found about this all was that I wasn't using my Sharingan. Relying on it too much won't get me nowhere and it might make me into a egomaniac like that cursed clan these eyes belong to.

"Take me seriously!" Hoshi yelled, still in her stance, but not making any movement to aproach me. What was with her and to be acknowledged so desperately.

"I can't." I shrugged and twirled the katana a bit with my right hand. "Your forgetting the number one rule of being a shinobi. Don't underestimate your opponent, no matter how well you think you know them. One slight mistake in a battle and it will all be over." Deciding I had my share of preaching now, I kicked the floor and propelled myself forward with a down slash. As I expected, she blocked it and we were in a stalemate for good two seconds 'till I kicked her in the stomach.

I could feel the Killer Intent rising from the sidelines. __"Huh? Oh, it's just Sanji, but still, that's a fair amount of Sakki (Killer Intent) he's aiming at me.____"__ I glared at Sanji from the distraction since it proved that I was indeed distracted. Which was why I got a nasty cut on my left collarbone and bicep. It hurt, yes, but I wasn't going to scream like a little girl who fell off from her bicycle.

Looking bact at my opponent, I would've expected her to show some amount of joy for landing a hit on me. But that wasn't the case, oh no, she was furious.

"Now your slacking off." She said with hatred in her voice. Kinda one I used to whenever people tried to make acquaintance with me. "Don't you have any pride?"

I pouted and looked at my shirt. "I had, this was my favorite shirt you know. It's made out of silk." I tried to get a rise our of her, because that's how I roll. Always have been, always will be.

"How... dare you." Hoshi tightened her grin on the ninjatō. "Your not worth the title of shinobi. Do you know the difference between us? The one thing that makes the other a true warrior."

I thought about it for a second. That just sounded really lame to me. "No, and I can't bring myself to care." I shrugged at her.

And yes, I know that was a dick move.

At least I know that she doesn't know how to keep her emotions in check. A shudder went past my spine when I remember my lessons on keeping emotions at bay. It's like Master prepared me for this. Sometimes I thought the old man was a psychic.

My opponent rushed at me this time and I could feel the Killer Intent rising from her too.__ "Yup, she really wants to kill me." __I sighed and noticed her strikes were sloppy from all the rage. So a quick block with the blunt side of my katana and a haymaker to her stomach made her reel back. "What's peeling you apples today? If I didn't know better, you seem to be angry at me."

"Of course I'm angry!" Hoshi yelled and this time – which didn't surprise me – threw shurikens at me. Raising my katana, I just blocked the ninja stars away and redirected another stab from the angry kunoichi.

__"This is like the tournament all over again: jetlag, people yelling at me, weird looking foods that I came to like, blood and the lack of vomit. The only difference here is that we couldn't kill each other. What would Matlock say about me acting like a douchebag now. Nothing good I guess." __

"...and that is why you'll never understand what it's like to be a ninja." Hoshi, apparently said something regarding her life or ninja career.

I felt bad at that moment. Tuning out people like flies or mosquitos. "Ehm, what did you say again? It seems I lost my intrest when that flapping skin you call mouth started to move." That was one of my was to tune out people. I know I was a real walking dick back in my youth – and I still am – but sure you could say that I was a hypocritical, sarcatic little devil with a serious problem in human social skills. But I digress that, I was trying to find the real me.

"Do you know how hard I trained to get where I am!" Hoshi shouted with a very scary tone that resembled Susan when someone – usually me – did something unforgivable.

I wasn't really intrested on listening her childhood trauma or what not. I just wanted this to get behind me. Mostly it was because she rubs me the wrong way. Not the usual way that Nami does, which is warm, fuzzy and sometimes murky if money is involved.

"Nooot intrested." I waved her off and made my own quick stabs at her. She dodged them all, but I could tell she was fastly getting exhausted from the match. Not to sound like a sexcist, but men do have a better stamina than women.

Alright, I admit. That sounded very degrading to the opposite gender. Women can be as good in long-distance track events as men. Same thing applies to sprints and shot puts. Not that they can do both at the same time, its like saying how every square is a rectangle, but not vice-versa. Which doesn't make much sense.

I could see Hoshi was getting more and more angry at me. She's like my previous opponents. All high stuck up pricks who change whenever I give them a dose of my happy pills with a new flavor called fist. I sheated my katana back in her sheat, which irritated Hoshi even more.

"What are you doing! This fight isn't over."

"Your right. It's not," I clenched my hands into fist and had one of them behind my back. It was like Rock Lee's Goken (Strong Fist) stance. Which is why I wanted to try something new. "Weapons aren't the only thing I excel in. Might as well get my groove on." I grinned at her. "Ezekiel, you arrogant bastard you." My little taunt worked and got her in another frenzie off bad mood. I felt a bit of a quilt in me for antagonizing her this much. Another wave of guilt hit me when a plan to finish this came to me._ "Fine, I'll use the bastards move."_

Hoshi swung her ninjatō, intent on cleaving my head off. Just before the blade was near my neck, I quickly ducked under her vision, brought my foot high and connected it under her jaw. There was enough power behind it to send her flying, but I was kinda confused seeing her 'floating' in mid-air like a feather.

__"Oh, it must be one of those anime laws. Something about difference in gravitational pull where the gravity is reduced by a factor of four instead of the usual ten."___ I tried to reason with myself, which wasn't really working. All my life I have been true to the laws of nature, physics and rationality. Hell, I've even wrote love letters to Isaac Newton even though the guys long dead. Which spoke volumes about me not belonging here._

Not to say that everything that's happened to me here is rational or follow the rule that many scientist found and died for.

Regardless, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. I vanished from my spot and appeared behind the 'floating' kunochi.

"W-what is this?" She was either having a panic attack or a serious case of acrophobia – fear of heights.

"Kage Buyō (Shadow of the Dancing Leaf )." I whispered and grabbed her left shoulder where I spun myself above her with my right leg held high. "I'm sorry I annoyed and/or disrespected you today. It wasn't really my intention to act like I have been, but do know this," My features darkened at her once we made eye contact. "you brought this upon yourself."

I slammed my heel on the kunoichi's stomach and sent her down towards the wooden floor. But if she thought I was done with her.

She's gravely mistaken.

Since her fall is already increased by my heeldrop. I took a spin forward with my other leg held high again and kicked her in the stomach once her back connected to the floor.

"Shishi Rendan! (Lions Barrage!)" I shouted and felt a massive amount of pain in my left knee. It's hard to believe that a 12-year-old can do this and not break their leg in half. _"Maybe I should've reinforced my limbs with chakra."_

I noticed that the whole dojo was silent and looking at the supine Hoshi surrounded by broken woods. The scene made me cringe.

"Maybe I overdid it a little."

"That. Was. Awesone!" Luffy shouted from the sidelines and rushed towards me. "When did you learn that!"

I dumbly scratched the back of my head. "Uhm, I saw a clown do it in a circus." I half-lied to him.

"Cool! You gave me another idea on my move!"

I tilted my head to the side in confusion. "Your just gonna steal my move?"

"No, I thought you want to teach it to me. It would be cool to learn." Luffy said and added his own version of the puppy dog eyes.

I sighed at him, the guy's way too troublesome for his own good. "Fine, as quoted by a friendly purple dinosaur: sharing is caring."

"You've met a purple dinosaur!" I ignored Luffy who stared at me with wide-eyes. No need to tell him that Barner – my childhood hero – is actually a guy in a suit. It took me long to know there was a guy inside Barney and believed it was hurting him. Kinda like a parasite.

"Oi, shit-for-brains!" Speaking of parasites. "I told you not to go over the top!"

"What was I supposed to do? Give her flowers and chocolate?"

Sanji aproached me and tightly gripped my collar. "You dirty barbarian! Don't you know it's not nice to hit ladies!"

I swatted his hands away, not really in the mood to fight with him. "Get you hands off me, punk ass white boy." The last part was muttered by me and I was sure no one heard me. Lest I sound racist, which I'm not.

"Senpai! Senpai!" Raizo waved and ran towards us. The little ninja kid still had those eyes of admiration. "That was incredible! I've never seen anything that cool!"

"Eeeh, thanks kiddo." I smiled, not knowing how to take that compliment. I looked towards Hoshi who was being helped by Sanji and – by the cooks request – Chopper who bandaged the kunoichi's back and stomach. My only concern here was the floor as I tapped it with the tip of my shoe. "What's with the floor?"

"The dojo's made from the most resilient wood ever found." Raizo explained to me.

I gawked at the kid. "What! You mean this shack's been made out of Adam's Wood?" I then looked at the damage I made and grinned. "Man I'm strong! Being able to kick right through-!"

"It's actually made out of the local trees here." A old, raspy and feminine voice called behind me. "This place is actually 400 years old. The last time we changed the floor was when I was born."

My ego crumbled into dust when I heard that. "So the structure here as durable as balsa wood. Great."

The old woman giggled, which in turn made me feel good that I didn't do anything bad. "Don't be upset, my boy. I wanted to thank you for not using any lethal... moves, as you younsters like to call."

"Wait, you knew I was holding back?" I whispered to her ear, not wanting to let anyone know that I just did that.

"Of course, I can see you harbour great power within you." She giggled again. "You remind me of someone in my youth."

I grinned at her. "Really? Was he as handsome as me?"

The old lady gave me a wide smile. "I don't know about the looks, but in personality, you two are like two peads in a pod." She paused a bit, I guessed she was reminicing the good old times. "I'm sorry, but I never got you name, youngling."

"Oh, sorry." I blushed lightly in embarassement for not introducing myself earlier. "Name's Vane, Ezekiel Vane or otherwise known as the nicest guy on the face of the planet!" I gave the old lady a deep, exaggerated bow.

"Nice to meet you, Ezekiel-chan." A small snickerings were heard from the crew behind me. At first I was kinda peeved for being named like that, but then I remembered that the suffix was something you use for young kids. "My name is Yuzuki, but my childred here call me the Elder Master."

__"She might be senile, so I'll let it slide this time."__ I flashed a smile at her. "I think I'll just call you, baachan."

I probably shouldn't call her that. It brings back memories about me good ol' grandma.

"Dude," Daxter began and sat on my shoulder, the one that wasn't nearly sliced off. "I've never seen you use that. When did you learn it?"

"I didn't, I improvised it on the spot. Technically." I chuckled at my words. Gotta say, it was really hard to perform. I should probably make my own taijutsu combo.

"So you just half-assed this whole thing?"

"Pretty much."

Raizo – who was staring at me the whole time – looked Daxter in amazement. "What is that thing? It can talk."

"Hey! I have a name you know!" Daxter waved his tiny arms at the kid. "I'm Daxter, the owner of the famous Naughty Ottsel."

"You do know that the place is probably destroyed by Torn by now? Wouldn't surprise me if he blew the place with a anti-tank rifle. I'd pay money to see that!" I grinned at my orange sidekick who scowled at me.

"Why don't you make like a tree and die in a forest fire you pessimistic bastard."

"Then who's gonna protect your scrawny ass?" I crossed my arms over my chest and refrained myself from flinching when I saw Hoshi limp towards me. The hostility wasn't visible anymore, guess she only needed someone – like me – to beat some sense into her.

"I lost huh?" Hoshi said and took the cloths covering her face off revealing a shoulder lenght platinum blond hair with a tint of lime green on it. A weird choice of coloring if you ask me. Other than that, she was fairly attractive with the blue-eyes and all. Attractive enough for Sanji to swoon around her and scowl at me.

"Fair and square," I said and looked towards the wooden crater I made. "I think."

"What about our bet?" She asked, with a hint of fear in her voice which made me laugh at her.

"I was just kidding, it was just my way of getting under your skin."

"But-!"

My expression darkened at her again. "If you say that keeping your promise is your ninja way. I swear to whatever deity there is. I will go on a rampage here and the only left thing left of this place is charred coal."

Hoshi took a step back by my threat. "How did you know?"

"I have my ways." I huffed and looked away._ _"I should probably start making my own combos instead of rehearsing the ones I saw."__

"Hey!" Nami suddenly shouted and looked at the Log Pose on her wrist. "The Log's set, we can leave now!"

"Woo!" Luffy shouted with an abnormal amount of enthusiasm in his voice. "New adventures!"

"Y-your leaving?" Hoshi asked.

"Yup, pirate and all. Can't stay in one place for too long." I dusted myself from any splinters and dust I had in my pants. "By the way, what was with you anyways?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know, the stick in your ass and the holier-than-thou attitude."

"Oh, that." Hoshi looked down in shame or sorts. "It's that there aren't much opponents who can best me and well..."

"You grew arrogant? Yeah, I know the feeling. Happened to me quite a lot 'till I got my ass beaten. It's really an eye opener and not something you should be ashamed off." I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and smiled. "People make mistakes all the time, it's always helpful to learn from them because then they seem worthwhile. Take me for example, it took me one time to learn not to stick my head in a metal fan." To emphasize it, I rubbed the side of my head where I was hit by said metal and got a giggle out of her._ "Good, now I know she has some kind of emotion in her."_

She shook her head with a smile. "It's a shame your leaving. I would like to have a rematch."

"Sorry to disappoint, but I gotta go where the wind howls and the seagulls scream in anguish seeing our blacker than heart flag with the skull." Hoshi looked at me weirdly when I said that. "Pirate talk, I think."

"Hoshi-saaaan~!" Sanji twirled towards us in his love-mood-thing and came to a sudden stop when he spotted me. "You! Why are you talking with my star after you beat her beauty from the sky!"

"Can't we continue this argument once were back on the ship?" I pleaded him, but saw he wouldn't have none of that. Being around him is such a drag. Always fighting about girls and not beating them up even though they commited crimes.

Sometimes I wish he was a girl, maybe then he would leave me alone.

"What is he talking about?" Hoshi asked and looked between me and Sanji. That was when I got a brilliant – or extremely stupid – idea.

"He says that women are weak and should not be put against strong men like himself. I, for one don't think so, that's why I accepted your request." I grinned when I saw Hoshi glaring at Sanji. "Forgive me about my friends napoleon complex, but he usually means well." That said, I left the two to... work things out.

"Don't you think you went a bit too far?" Usopp asked while looking at Hoshi trying to slice Sanji with the ninjatō she took from her suborbinate. I was impressed by her. She couldn't walk straight few minutes ago and now she's as good as new.

"Maybe a little bit. Sure I have my limits, but that was rather low of me." I said with somekind of regret.

"Can we please leave now?" Nami pleaded, she obviously wasn't really keen on staying here. Not that I blame her.

This is so non-cannon it hurts.

**[To Be Continued]**

One done, another to go. I guessed many wanted to see an epic scene with places exploding and body parts flying around. Forgive me about those, I promise the next one will contain one of those I just mentioned.

Sorry for not fulfilling my promise and skip straight to the sky-arc, but I had too much fun writing this so I thought, "What the hell, it's not like it makes any difference."

And here we are.

I've even decided that the next chapters WILL be hell-of-a-lot shorter. About max. 3000 words, not too long, but not too short either.

Anyways, I'd like to thank for the support you guys been given me. It doesn't matter if your a random stranger who likes to peep on people from their windows and publish it in their own secret website where no one can enter. I'm not gonna judge you, your fetishes are your own problem.

Enough of this sappy snuff moment and review your hearts out, literally.


	43. Gluttonous Turtle

**Chapter 43: Gluttonous Turtle.**

**Dislaimer: Don't own anything here except the Oc's**

[Going Merry, Ezekiel's POV]

After we left the crazy Ninja Island and said goodbyes to the ninjas, everything went back to normal. And by normal, I mean everyone was bored as hell except me and Daxter.

_"_What was this thing supposed to do again?_"_ I asked my orange sidekick about the hoverboard I was standing on.

_"_Remember the blue orb you found?_"_

_"_Uhh... yeah, it's called Pressure-Globe. The old man in the desert said it's good for nothing so why bother?_"_ I said and paused a bit to remember the event where I told Daxter everything. Including my tattoo actually being a receiver for those orbs which gives me powers depending on the power of said orb I consume. That's the good thing, the bad is that it wreaks my body from inside out and uses my blood veins as some sort of power conduct.

To dumb this whole thing up: think my body as a... fruit blender and the orbs as fruits. The tattoos are the blades cutting and slicing the fruits while bringing their features which solely depends on the fruits... varieties. To power the whole blender up, that's what the will power is for. Too little, it won't work, too much and your body will blow itself up. Unless you have a better grasp on your emotions that is.

There was more, but the old sandman was actually a senile old geezer and forgot the mature details of it. That, or my ADD kicked in and I wasn't listening.

_"_Pressure-Globe? What's it do?_"_

_"_I have no idea._"_ I answered and came up with something new. _"_What if I add chakra to it? Do you think it does something?_"_

_"_Dunno, give it a try._"_ Daxter encouraged.

I shrugged my shoulder and looked down at the enlarged disc Dax's made. At first I was skeptical about him building something which doesn't involve something blowing up. But I decided to be the nice guy I am and give him some credit to his hard work.

I closed my eyes and felt the odd colored chakra I had in me ever since I got here. After few seconds of concentrating, I escorted the chakra into the soles of my feet and heard a low humming noise. I wasn't sure what it was, but it seemed to be reacting to my chakra the more I channel it. Ignoring it as something irrelevant, I added even more chakra to it and almost lost my balance when the thing lift off.

_"_What the-!_"_ I shouted, not believing I was hovering for good two seconds 'till I lost my balance and hit the back of my head against the deck. The ottsel immediately jumped on my chest, not caring if it slightly hurt me.

_"_Well that was a learning experience, and no one got hurt._"_ Daxter made his usual wide grin, like the one in the games when he did something awesome. Or something stupid for that matter.

_"_So that's how it works. I power up the thing, the Globe pressurises the air beneath the board and lifts me up. Kinda like a hovercraft with a invisible cushion and the huge fan._" I said and let out a sigh of relief._ _"_Great, at least it won't defile the laws of gravity as much as I thought._"_

_"_Wait,_"_ Daxter suddenly said. _"_you told me that those things can be used as weapons, right?_"_

I slowly stood up and let the ottsel fall from my chest. _"_Specter,_"_ Me and Daxter shuddered. _"_used it on me to power up his Devil Fruit-power. From what I could tell, he consumed a Globe with acidic properties on it. It seemed to be reacting to his emotions._"_

_"_Cool, can you use it?_"_

_"_Nope, the thing ruptures my chakra pathways upside down. But if I decide to use it, I'll have to be careful with it since it enables me from using chakra. Or amplifies it, depending on the situation. "I walked forward and grabbed the hoverboard who – to my surprise – was still hovering. "Hmm... so one chakra burst to and it works by itself for sometime, neat."

"Cooool!" Luffy shouted and ran towards the levitating hoverboard. "What is this! This is so cool! Cool! Cool! Cool! I want one too!" The Captain's yelling eventually brought everyones attention to the hoverboard.

"Whoa! What is that?" Chopper asked, also intriqued by Daxter's invention as much as Usopp who was examining it with the inventor and let him explain how it works. Since I had no idea about the structure, I let him do what he does best: boast about himself.

"Can I board it?" Luffy asked and eagerly looked at me.

"Knock yourself out." I answered him. I raised my brow at what happened next. The second Luffy's foot made contact with the board. It hummed again, but this time it turned itself off and retracted to its smaller size. "Huh?"

"Did I break it?"

"I don't think so." I walked towards them and saw that there wasn't the blue coloring indicating that it was on. "Let me try it."

I wasn't surprised this time when the board lifted off and hovered the moment it received my chakra. This time it didn't surprise me, so my balance was at top notch.

"How did you do that?" This time Sanji – who was still angry at me – asked with some amount of intrest in his eye.

"It seems to react to my chakra. I think it memorised my chakra the first time I used it and only let's me ride it." I made a few test rides with it and gotta say. The feeling was great until something started to fall from the sky. "What is this?"

"Rain?" Zoro questioned

"This... ain't rain." Sanji replied.

"I don't think it's rain..." Nami said, not believing that it was raining without clouds above us. I also looked up to see if our navigator made a mistake only to widen my eyes in fear.

"Well... fuck."

***SPLASH!***

A huge, old ship fell from the sky and nearly sunk itself with us beneath it. The thing created a big-ass wave when it fell near us and shook the ship like one of those tea-cup rides. God I hated those.

"BRACE YOURSEVES!" Zoro shouted. "DON'T LET GO OF THE SHIP!"

"Easier said than done." I groaned, not only did I use chakra to stick on the deck, no. I had to hold onto Nami who nearly fell from the ship. "We need to work on your balance too."

And as a good, self-centered women usually do – she ignored me. "What is this!" I wasn't annoyed by it or anything, on the contrary. As a kid I _wanted _people to ignore me so they could leave me be. So that's why I ignored Usopp and Daxter convincing themselves about this being a dream.

There was mostly orders around me and the one that stuck to my brain was that we need to protect the ship. I restrained myself from repeating the same line I said not 30 seconds ago. I didn't notice that Nami already released my arm she clung to and ran to yell at Zoro about something.

I just ignored everything else the pirates were screaming about. I've already gotten used to this and started to blow away some large chunks of wood away with my Great Breakthrough technique. During my task of protecting our already frail ship. I saw a small, treasure chest falling towards the sea, never to be found again.

Unless I do something about.

I left the others who started to talk about a floating island. Sure it sounded intresting, but not as intresting as the treasure chest. Good thing I didn't blow it away further from our ship. Otherwise it would've been a pain in the ass to retrieve.

Looking at the chest, which was a usual chest with bronze hinges and a golden lock. I water walked back to Merry and heard Luffy announce something.

"So there's an ocean in the sky with an island on it! Yosh, let's go!"

"Okay, men! Steer the helm up! HARD TURN SKYWARD!" Usopp who somehow gained his courage back yelled. The crew then began to talk about islands not able to float and stuff like that.

"I'll take that." Nami, who suddenly appeared in front of me, snatched the treasure chest from my arms with a sweet smile.

"Good," I nodded with my own smile. "if that thing blows up on you, I won't be held responsible."

Nami started to hesitate a bit and was contemplating about what I said. Now that it was in her arms. I saw that the treasure chest was about the size of your average mailbox. Which makes me doubt my eyesight if I was barely able to get a glimps of it.

"Here, open it." Nami commanded and held the treasure chest in front of my face. I grumbled at her and decided to ignore her glare as I walked past her.

"Ask that love cook of yours. I'm sure he's more than eager to die for you." I didn't know what set me on bad mood. Maybe it was the fact that I've been awake for two days and I'm not dead. _"What am I thinking? I can't die from that. I already have a plan on how I want to die."_ I shook my head and awkwardly walked towards Robin who opened a casket containing a rather old skeleton with ragged clothes. What weirded me was that she was rearranging the broken skull of the dead guy on board. Like it was a puzzle or something. "Again her fetish with old things."

Sure there were Sanji and Zoro looking at the thing with intrest. "Will you find out anything?" Zoro asked.

"I don't know." Robin replied to him, still gazing at the shattered bones that used to contain someones brains.

"You know, this kinda reminds me of that one experiment with rats." I said, gaining some attention from the unusual comment. "Every hour, the rats were given the choice between food or having the pleasure of sending their brains stimulated. And the rats starve to death everytime."

"You two have weird hobbies." Nami told us while she and Chopper were hiding behind the mast.

The rest I shrugged off. It was mainly Robin babbling about the corpses containing a lot of information and secrets. It's sorta like shinobis collecting dead bodies in order to unveil their jutsus or secrets. Which sounds great and at the same time gross. Sure, I have a lot of jutsus in my arsenal already, but can you really have too many? I don't even know if I have enough chakra to perform them all much less enough control to examine a corpse.

After Nami's and Luffy's argument, which ended with the former beating the latter. She started to tell us about the need of information Robin just suggested.

"If that giant ship really was in the sky, then there must be a way for out ship to get there too. We need to get onto that ship and pull out any documents or records left." Nami said with a tiny bit of mischievousness growing in her eyes.

"But the ship's completely sunk now." Usopp pointed out.

"If it's sunk, we'll salvage it!" Nami raised her fist in determination, which were of course imitated by two over enthusiastic human and rubberman.

There was a lot of shouts going around. Mostly between me and Nami who tried to force me into one of Usopp's inventions. Said invention was actually a diving suit made out of barrels and knitted leather. The thing looked ridiculous and I suspected it lacked the necessary life support devices needed for an actual diving.

"Well guys, have fun and don't let the fishies bite ya." I grinned at Luffy, Zoro and Sanji who were forced to 'retrive' the sunked ship. I don't how she planned to that, but decided to lay back and watch the event.

"Why aren't you going." Zoro glared at me from his barrel-suit.

"Because someone has to look for your backs. You'll never know if someone, like swimming monkeys with tight swim suits attack us." I shrugged and had this odd feeling that I was right.

"Your just being paranoid. There's no way these monsters can fail." Nami said, not really meaning any of those words she just told the guys. But it did serve it's purpose – or so I'd like to think – on getting Sanji motivated.

"Nami-swan! I'm abdolutely going to find you a clue about getting to Sky Island!"

"I'm counting on you!" Nami fake smiled at them, which really made me convince that she's a devil incarnated. She has no sympathy whatsoever to any living things except money.

"You know, if you add bald head and 600 pounds, she would make a perfect wife for Krew." Daxter told me and we shared our second shudders today. I wasn't sure was it because I just imagined Nami with 600 pounds and bald hair or because there was a huge ass fish swimming around us. I guessed it was the former.

"Well, good luck." Nami said and made a small, meaningless prayer to our 'volunteers'. Daxter did a good job on comparing the two. Krew doesn't care much about peoples life, only that he gets what he wants and gets it fast.

While the others were doing their thing, I went back to the chest and began to examine it. Since it fell from the sky and there's a Sky Island above us. The theory of someone above liking me has been disproved, for now.

"Do you have any lock picks or do I have to blow the thing up?" I asked my sidekick who started to sniff the treasure chest for some kind of clue.

"Can't you just smash the wooden parts away?"

"No can do. That would completely ruin the surprise in it and you know how much I love surprises." I saw my sidekick groan at that.

"Fine, just melt the damn thing."

I was about to do just that when someone started to sing. At first I suspected it was Luffy, but that wasn't the case as I looked at the direction where it came from. Just then, next to Merry was a huge, monkey ship with bananas on its sides. The ship occupants started to yell at each other 'till a huge man – or gorilla – started to claim that the boat that nearly killed us belonged to them and claimed himself to be the Salvage King, Masira.

"Oi, you guys! What're you doing there?" Masira asked us suspiciously.

"You know, we were just sailing around, minding our business when a giant ship fell from the sky." I replied and looked at the monkey boat. "Well, I wasn't that far away from my guess."

Masira looked at me now, slight surprise evident in his ape-like features. "You don't say. Well, be careful next time will ya."

"Sure pal." I waved at him, the monkey man was nice or at least courteous. "By the way, what did you mean by your territory? I've never heard of people claiming seas for themselves."

"What's with the sudden intrest?" Usopp asked while pumping a pedal or sorts. I guessed it was for the three barrel-suit men underwater. Something about oxygen and humans needing that stuff.

"I dunno, maybe it's because I hate small talks and want to encage in a normal conversation." I shrugged at him and had to listen to Masira saying about ships that sink here belong to him.

I tuned out the rest. It wasn't because I knew what would happen now, no, it was because those shouts got on my nerve. I walked towards the mast and leaned on it. Since I had nothing to do, might as we start to meditate while sometimes glancing at the panicing crew.

"Bub! Wake up! Bub!" Daxter shouted at me in paniced voice. I wasn't surprised, the guy's always panicing about the slightest mishap in the universe.

"What now?" I groaned and ruffled my hair. I hate being disturbed from my meditation. "This better be good."

"WE'RE BEING ATTACKED!"

I raised my brow at him and fully stood up from my lotus position. My legs felt kinda numb so I must've been out for awhile. "What's the problem now?" I asked the pirates who pointed at a island near us. I narrowed my eyes at it and managed to get a full picture of it. "Oh. My. God! It's a turtle!" I cheered, absolutely fanatic to meet this enormous reptile who's probably gobbling my crewmates to death.

"HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM ABOUT IT!" Nami, Usopp, Chopper and Daxter shouted at me.

"Because I'm gonna make it my pet!" Not one to prolong this any longer. I jumped from the ship and skied towards the turtle while ignoring the pirates yelling at me. I continued running on its shell 'till I was standgin_g_ on it's head. "Gotcha! Will you be my new pet?" I asked the turtle that I 'caught' in my arms. "I promise I'm gonna hug you and kiss you and love you forever and ever and ever."

"Ezekiel! Get back here this instant!" Usopp yelled from a megaphone he retrieved from his bag. The liar was shaking like a pantomimic actor on sugar rush.

I ignored the liar, something I did a lot to him. The turtle was awesome and there was no way I'm going to let it go. "What should I call you now. I think Flippy sounds good, it's a pretty good gender-neutral name. Or maybe I'll call you Whiskers as a joke, because that's what you name a cat." I looked at his mouth and sure there was the aircords that the turtle was pulling to probably eat our ship, but I didn't care. I was hugging a giant turtle.

In the middle of my snuggles, the clouds above us turned black, which meant it was nighttime. "Night? This fast?" I mumbled to myself. "I can live with that." Just then, I felt Whiskers was feeling very agitated. I didn't know what happened to it, but I knew that it was afraid of something. I looked at his eye – the one closest to me – and followed its gaze. The sight made me feel rather insignificant about myself. There, in front of us stood extremely huge shadowy persons with wings and multiple spears directed at us. "Whiskers, get us out of here will ya." I whispered to it and – much to my surprise – got a slow nod from it.

I saw the Straw Hats – now with the other three missing occupants on the ship – started to row like hell with me and Whiskers right behind them. I guessed they got more motivation in them by the turtle 'chasing' them. Thinking that it wants to eat them for its last meal.

After 5 or 10 minutes of non-stop rowing like the hounds of hell were after the pirates. They came to a sudden stop and stared at the turtle. I didn't know if they were scared or God forbid, delighted by the sight of Whiskers staring back at them hungrily. I decided to ease them and happily waved at the pirates 'till Luffy started to shout in amazement.

"Did you tame it!" I didn't pay any heed to him as I jumped from Whiskers and landed on the deck. The first thing I had to do was dodge a fist aimed at my face.

As much as I'd like to claim myself for being the most durable guy on earth. I don't want to get any damage done to my face.

"Careful with the product. I still have a modelling career ahead of me." I wagged my finger at the angry Nami. Ignoring her reprimanding me for doing stupid things, I turned to my pet turtle and waved at it. "Be sure to be nice down there, Whiskers! Don't go too far and talk to strangers! I'll call you back soon so stay close!" The turtle let out a huge roar, or whatever sounds turtle let out. He – or she – submerged back in the water and sent a goodbye splash at us.

"Whiskers?" Robin giggled with her hand covering her mouth.

"I thought about naming it Blastoise, but as you can see. The thing's way too big for a normal water Pokemon. It wouldn't make sense." Sure I was given those weird looks again, but I wasn't affected by them.

After all, I am a Pokemon Master.

**[To Be Continued]**

Well there you have it. One short chapter with... something. I wanted to fast forward this, but I couldn't bring myself to do that.

And sorry for about this stort being short and/or filled with gramms (like the previous chapters). Hope this one clarified what the tattoo and the orbs do. Ezekiel won't use them beside the one he has in him. More will be explained through time.

Thanks for the awesome reviews! Those words made my day... and my hair. Definitely my hair, so keep reviewing. I want it sparkling with glitters by monday.

If you know what I mean. *wink* *wink*

(Chirping sounds in the background)

I guess you don't.


	44. Key of the Underworld

**Chapter 44: Key of the Underworld.**

**Disclaimer: I want marshmallows.**

[Going Merry, Ezekiel's POV]

I was currently ignoring Nami ranting to Zoro and Sanji about them bringing trash from the sunken ship. She was right though, these were bunch of trash. I took one of those antique swords in my hand and it instantly crumbled into tiny metal pieces. Looking at Nami, I saw the girl was pretty mad about this turn of event. _"Again, why am I attracted to her?"_ I thought with some amount of regret swelling over me. Sure she looks good, has her moments and is actually a good conversation partner beside Zoro.

While I was thinking about this. I was unaware of Nami staring back at me 'till she pointed it out. "What are you looking at?"

I felt a bit dirty for staring at her like that. "Nothing, just came up with a new training program for you." She groaned at me and walked away with a small huff. Looking at her a bit closer, I saw she was walking towards upstairs and encaged a conversation with Robin. The woman gave something that looked a lot like a Etenal Pose to her. I guessed that thing's supposed to point us towards Jaya, so I was all in with that idea.

"Yosh! Hard turn to Jaya!" Luffy announced with his fists held high.

_"Now what would be the odd of us meeting Ace there?" _I chuckled to myself. Maybe I can a have a decent conversation with him. That is unless he's sleeping on someone elses ship and eating without them being aware.

"Turn the ship to starboard" Nami clarified the Captain who turned us to where his guts told him until our navigator corrected him. I gently lied myself on the deck and gazed at the empty sky where we're going to. That arc wasn't really on my top favorites. Mostly because it gave me the creeps that something's waiting for me there.

Sighing, I closed my eyes and tried to think about something else. The first thing that came to my mind was Robin. I still don't trust her, but so far she's been nothing but helpful here. _"Of course she is. She is part of this crew now." _I reminded myself. If she starts to defect or something, I'll be first to smash her skull open. Another thing why she appeared on my mind was about the Poneglyph in my head. There were two scenarios of what would happen: first, she'll make backflips of joy for discovering that or she'll hide an important fact for me. A important fact that might kill me or kill everyone.

Which brings us back to the fact that I still don't trust her. Not. One. Bit.

Even if I did have a change in heart, I don't still know how to show it to her. She might thing I'm just another guy who escaped the asylum meant for people like me. I have a reputation I have to hold on to and being mistaken for a funny farm resident.

Suddenly, I heard three sounds of something hitting the front deck. At first I thought it was the guys being smashed around by Nami, but they sounded too soft. Even I know that girl hits hard and that's saying alot.

I reared my both legs back and with a jolt managed to fully stand up. A light pain coursed through my knee, but wasn't enough to make me wince from it. I began to stretch my arms a bit and walked towards where the sounds came. Looking down, I noticed three seagulls with three bullet wounds on each. Must've been the cause of their deaths, which made me look at Usopp with narrowed eyes.

"I didn't hear any gunshots. How did you do that without a silencer?"

"It wasn't me!" Usopp shouted at me from the crow's nest.

"Judging from the angle they were flying at, the bullets came from right in front of the ship." Chopper explained and showed me the bullet he took from the bird that was barely alive.

"From the island we haven't even sighted yet? That's impossible." Nami said with a disbelief expression on her face.

"But I was watching them the entire time!"

"That guy would have to have incredible eyesight, an incredible gun, _and_ be an incredible marskman. He probably just fired the bullets into the air and they happened to fall down here." Usopp said, also having the same face Nami has.

I crouched down next to our sad doctor and looked at the dead seagull. "I doubt that, Usopp." I said and picked the seagull that just died. "Do you know how much speed the bullet looses when fired in the air and falls down? Sure the gravity speeds it up big time, but it still wouldn't be able to pierce flesh." I threw the seagull to Luffy who grabbed it and ran towards Sanji. "Technically, it is possible to shoot this far with a modified rifle-barrel and good-quality gunpowder. Possibly a home-made one since no store sells this stuff." I explained while looking at the bullet and the black powder around it. Not that I know much about guns in general. Only that my father pre-schooled me with it. Saying that I'll make a great Marine one day.

A shame he's not seeing me now.

[Jaya's Harbor]

After I avoided being questioned, we arrived at Jaya's harbor. Sure the place's a pirate infested town, but that makes it even more better. Maybe I can find more clues about those Purifiers that keeps bugging me.

"So... who's going?" I asked around the ship.

"I'll go!" Luffy waved, closely followed by Zoro who nodded. I returned the gesture and got off the ship. "There's a lot of different people around here."

"Seems like a fun town." Zoro commented, also as eager as Luffy.

I looked towards the ship and wasn't surprised to see my coward sidekick waving at me. A chuckle escaped my throat. Where would that ottsel be without me.

"Wait! Luffy, Zoro, Ezek-kun!" Nami shouted and ran towards us. I had a pretty good guess why she wanted to follow. Mainly to oversee that we don't do anything stupid.

I waited for the navigator to catch up to us while the other two were on their own world. She gave me a small, grateful smile and began to shout at Luffy and Zoro. I just ignored them and also looked around for anything worthwhile. "Drunks, jerks, crazy people and let's not forget: Pirates. Looks like this place has it's own mojo going on."

"Whilst in this town, I promise to get away..." Luffy said and looked at the nearby pirates fighting not five metres from us. He looked like he wanted to take part of the manly event, but got pinched on the cheek by Nami for even thinking. "I promise not to fight! I promise not to fight."

"Good, ain't that you three?" I wasn't listening to Nami when I caught an intresting conversation going on from the guys that just passed us.

"Did you hear that? This organization: The Purifiers, it's said that they got a new, seventh Archangel." The time slowed down on us, which I guessed was another Anime Law. Looking at the man I just listened to, he had a rather worn out face with a long brown coat covering his frame. He also had pale brown hair and a beard surrounding his face.

"Your kidding! Those guys are abnormally strong. It's said that they got their powers from a man who's said to have fought The Pirate King on equal grounds!" A man, barely in his thirties said. I resisted the urge to laugh by the orange hair that resembled Nami's, but his were much shorted. The man had a olive green jacket, worn out jeans and a black baseball cap loosely set on his head.

"That's not all. There's a rumor that the old man is still kicking and aiming to get the One Piece. The weird thing about this all is that he and his suborbinates hate Pirates with passion. Their hatred is so great, that they allied themself with the World Goverment to wipe out any pirates they..." After that I couldn't hear a thing. They were too far away and I needed more info than that. Those guys were like a goldmine to me.

"Hey! Are you listening to me!" Nami shouted in my ear. I slowly turned towards her and picked my ear to get rid of the ringing noise in my head.

"Yeah yeah. I won't fight nor cause any trouble." I waved Nami off which infuriated her more that I wasn't listening. "Hey, uhm... there's someone I'd like to meet here. I'll be right back with you."

The three pirates stopped and looked at me weirdly. "You know someone in here?" Zoro asked.

"He's a good friend of mine that's been around here for quite some time. I could bet all my stolen money that he has some info about Sky Island." I lied to them. This constant lying made me feel rather bad about myself, but I needed to tail the guys before they get out of sight.

"Well let's go find him." Nami said while giving me a slight skeptical look. It was either that she found it suspicious that I know someone here or the money I just betted.

_"The latter." _I deadpanned at her. "The guy's a bit shy around strangers. Not to mention even more paranoid than me. I think it's wise if I go alone."

Luffy grinned at me. "Okay, but I want to meet that friend of yours. He sounds cool."

I returned the grin, albeit a bit darker and malicious. "That depends on his decision, but I'm sure he'll accept the invitation. We are _the_ best friends in the whole, wide, world."

[Break Time]

"You have ten more seconds to explain everything to me or else..." I glared at the two guys with my Sharingan eyes. It was easy to lure them in a dark alley by transforming into a prostitute and saying they get a discount because they look good. _"Even though that was a straight stab to my pride, it got its job done. Men... seriously..."_

Looking down at my two victims whom I bounded up with the steel wire I had in my seal tag. I began to roughen them up a bit. And by that I mean using Genjutsu to mellow them added with fists to their faces.

A shame I don't have Angel with me. She would love to nib a ear or two.

"W-W-What d-do y-y-your want. W-We didn't d-d-do anything!" The man with the black cap said in fear.

I crouched down to stare at him in the eyes. As expected, the man tried to back off in panic where I had my rare moment of intoxicating feeling. Like their fear was a soothing, peaceful music to my ears.

"Who are these Archangel's you mentioned?"

"We can't tell you that! They'll kill us!" The other man with the brown cloak said.

"And how's that any different from what I'll do to you? I heard you said that they hate Pirates or filths like you."

The man with the cap gulped. "They are small and powerful organization that seeks 'The Key of Tartarus'! Their 'God' has been said to be a man of great evil who bestowed his Archangel's powers to retrieve that key by any means necessary! It's said that key is supposed to open the gates of the underworlds deepest part and bestow a new hell in this world. That's all I know!"

Seeing that his friend blurred out everything, the man in the cloak also gulped. "I heard that whoever has the key, also has the ability to control demons and other creatures of the underworld to do their biddings."

"That so..." I hummed, maybe the Poneglyph in my head is the key and those 'demons' I saw in it are the ones they just mentioned. "Say... does the name Specter ring a bell?"

"N-n-n-no sir."

_"So he's not part of them, maybe a messenger? A pawn, maybe?" _I shook my head at that. "How strong are they?"

"Their ranking of strenght is based on power, age and how loyal they are to their 'God'. The weakest member is said to be able to rival a Pirate with a 80,000,000 beli bounty. I don't know much about the strongest, but he's in a whole different league compared to the Shichibukai." The man in the black cap explained.

I sighed at them. "And how do you guys know this much?"

"They've been slaughtering Pirates left and right without batting an eyelash." The man in the brown cloak shutted his eyes with tears going down his face. "They killed our whole crew! We're the only ones left and we want to avenge them! Please let us got, we won't tell this to anyone!"

They both looked at me expectantly, but backed even more in fear when I took out my tanto. I lengtened it to resemble Hoshi's ninjatō. It was one of those perks given by Triton.

"I think I'll make this fast for my own sanity." I swung my sword down and cut down the steel wires holding them. _"If Zoro can cut through a man made of steel, then I sure as hell can cut through a wire."_

"I thought you were going to kill us." The cloaked man exclaimed and warily looked at me.

"I already have enough peoples deaths in my conscious. Or whatever there's left of it." I sighed and sheated my tanto. "Beside, if those guys are as strong as you say and are seeking vengeance. You'll only cause your own deaths without me lifting a finger." I turned around and walked away from them.

"W-Wait!" One of them yelled. Since I had my back turned to them and didn't memorise their voices. I guessed it was the man with the black cap. I looked at them over my shoulder with a raised brow. "Your strong, maybe you can help us fight them!" He suggested.

"You have a clue?" I walked towards a crate and sat on it while maintaining my cool, calm and collected image.

"H-Hai," The cloaked man said. "we heard that Donquixote Doflamingo, one of the Shichibukai has been spotted here."

"This one's also a rumor; it's said that the Shichibukai's and the Archangel's have some sort of rival going on. We believe that Doflamingo has more information about them. We hoped that you'll go and ask him about it."

"Oh no no no. I ain't talking with that crazy man." I defiantly crossed my arms. "He's widely know to mess with people's mind for his own amusement."

"But he's our only lead!"

"Look, I didn't say that I was gonna work with ya'll. I wanted my own answer and now that I have them, I can leave you guys to your own devices."

"Before you leave, here." The man with the cloak aproached me and handed me a card. "It's our business card."

"The Spy Brothers, Anderson & Andersson." I raised my brow at then, again.

"I'm Anderson." The cloaked man exclaimed.

"And I'm Andersson with two 's'." The other one said. "We're not exactly brothers by blood, but our intelligence and spy network is top class."

"I don't see the correlation connection there." I deadpanned at them.

"That's just what makes us brothers." Anderson said and slung his arms around his supposed Spy Brother where they both shared a laugh.

_"If what these nimwits say is true, they could be useful and a good source of intel." _I mused to myself a bit and liked the idea. "Fine, do you guys have a Den Den Mushi, preferably the smallest one."

"Yes sir!" Andersson grinned and took a green snailphone from inside his cloak where he handed it to me. "Sorry for asking, but we never got your name."

"That's because I didn't give one." I glared at them. "But the name's Vane, Ezekiel Vane."

"Brother," The cap-man Andersson began. "doesn't that name sound familiar?"

"Indeed it does brother." Anderson rummaged the inside of his cloak. I sweat dropped by the sound of a cat hissing inside him. It's like the guy's a walking sealing scroll. "Ah! Found it!"

"Let me see." Andersson grabbed a wanted poster and stared at with fear. "Y-Y-Your the 30,000,000 million beli guy!"

_"I guess the new bounties have not been published yet."_ I thought with a sigh.

"No wonder we've been beaten so easily. Going against the Dark Mage is a chore in itself, even against someone like us." Anderson nodded to himself.

"You know, I'll pretend I didn't hear that." I got off from the crate and looked at the guys with pity. Sighing again, I took a scroll from my pouch and summoned 5 million belis from it. "I'm sorry for beating you guys up. Hope this compensates the damage done."

"Hai, this is more than enough! Thank you Ezekiel-sama!" They both yelled and ran away with the money, but not before shouting that we'll keep in touch.

I chuckled at them. "What a bunch of weirdoes." Shaking my head to side to side, I walked out of the alley.

At least I have something to think about this night.

* * *

><p><strong>[To Be Continued]<strong>

And were done here. Hope that gives you guys some goosebumbs about the upcoming chapters I have in store for you.

If anyone didn't notice, Tartarus It is a deep, gloomy place, a pit, or an abyss used as a dungeon of torment and suffering that resides beneath the underworld. Usually that place is notorious for imprisoning dangerous Titans or beasts/monsters/demons, craps like that.

Sure, I said before that Ezekiel gets his ass handed to him, but that's for the later chapters. The Archangel's will be him major enemies. The rest are either cannon fodders or minor characters like in the previous chapters.

Rate and review! If I made some mistake regarding the Greek Mythology, send a personal message or PM as these youngester call nowadays. If you have any good ideas, then do that too. Try not to over exaggerate it.


	45. The Insane Liar

**Chapter 45: The Insane Liar.**

**Disclaimer: I disclame everything I've claimed in this chapter – hope that made sense.**

* * *

><p>[Jaya, Ezekiel's POV]<p>

After I went into another alley. I took all my money from the scroll and had them with me at view. It would've been troublesome to summon them while I'm buying something. The previous store I visited and did that made the old woman have a heart attack. Don't wanna do that again.

Walking a bit more, I saw there was a large group in front of a random pub. "Wonder what's happening." I mused aloud and tapped a guy in the shoulder. "Excuse me, sir. What's going on?"

The man turned to me, slightly surprised by my appearance. "Bellamys group started lynch some rookie pirates. Poor guys are getting beat up badly."

"Got name?" I chuckled at whoever the poor guy was. How dumb do you have to be to get start a fight with someone allied to a dangerous Shichibukai.

"A weird pirate named Straw Hat Luffy."

My eyes went wide when I heard that and started to push the people away. I rammed the bar doors open and saw the two male pirates I was looking for standing there as a laughing stock for the whole pub. I noticed that they were indeed beaten up, but were still standing with those emotionless face that would make an AnBu Captain scream with delight. Seeing that the guys were about to receive another beating, I quickly ran there and blocked the punches aimed at their heads.

The whole bar went silent by my 'cool' entrance as I dubbed it. Since the attention was on me now, the other occupants stopped throwing things and stared at me. Including Bellamy whose eyes were glingting with madness, malicious intent and – surprisingly – intrest in something.

"And who might you be? Answer quickly or I'll have to punish you for interrupting my fun." He grinned a hyena-like grin. I could practically smell the arrogance around him

_"Someone needs to hit him a peg or two"_ I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Ezek-kun!" Nami shouted from somewhere around the bar. I gave her a quick glanced over to see if she was alright and indeed she was. "About time you're here, now, bea-!"

"Nami," I rudely cut her off with a cold voice. "shut up. You've cause enough problem by denying them to put up any fight. Now sit back before we all get killed." That seemed to silence her. I knew I was acting like a dick now, but I have to handle this situation carefully. I don't want to be beaten up like those two.

It would remind me too much of home.

"Ezekiel." Luffys monotone voice came behind me as I was walking towards the bartender. I looked at him over my shoulder and gave a short nod that I understod what he meant.

_"Don't fight." _I grabbed the rest of my money with me and gave it to the pub owner. "Forgive me about those two messing around. There should be enough to fix the place and serve these people their wasted drinks." The pub instantly went into cheers with Bellamy laughing like a hyena. That laughter seriously got on my nerves.

"Ahahahaha! You know what, kid! I like you, come here! Let us have a drink!" Again the pub went silent, which I thought was another Anime Law where the good guy faces of the bad guy. Frankly, I don't consider myself as a good guy or hero, I'm more like an anti-hero here.

"Well I'd be inclined to share my time with you, but see. There's a problem with that." I walked towards him and saw Bellamy grin even more.

"And that would be?"

I leaned closer to him so that the only ones that no one could hear us. "I have a meeting with your Boss, Donquixote Doflamingo. I'm sure you know what happens if he finds out you were the cause of me being late?" I lied throught my teeth, something I was actually good at if I wanted to.

Bellamy tense and I saw a small sweat run down his face. "H-How do you know? Not even my crew knows about our alliance."

My own grin just widened when I heard the fear behind his voice. "Simple, I didn't." I chuckled at him. I even saw he was ready to smash my head against somewhere, but refrained from doing that. "He's a firm believer of the 'might is right' policy. Some of you might say he's right, I say that's full horseshit to my ears. I know you and everyone else in here doesn't believe in the age where pirates dreaming has any purpose." I paused to let my words sink to him. "But what is purpose in general around here? Does it have something to do with strenght? Money? Or perhaps social status? No, it's neither of those. Dream and belief are two completely different things. One is to aim higher in life, in goal, or simply waste it thinking about it. While the other like *chuckles* yourself, is to follow the shephards voice like the good, little lambs you all are."

"That doesn't make any sense." Bellamy snarled at me, but still wasn't sure about himself whether to hit me or not. I guessed it was because he thought I had important connection with the aforementioned Warlord.

"C'mon Bellamy! Just teach the brat a lesson, just like these two weaklings." Sarquiss – I guessed – shouted while staring at my back. Another guess of mine. I'm good at guessing something, perhaps something granted by the Sharingan.

I chuckled some more. "Nothing, absolutely nothing in this world makes sense. I've seen it all, I've felt it all and..." I leaned closer to his ear and whispered, "I know what happens to this Era and to the people like you." Now that I had my share of mindf*ckin here. I turned around and stood in front of Luffy. The Captain was staring at me right in the eyes in one of his rare, serious moments i this series. "Sorry guys." I reared my arm and punched Luffy in the stomach. Before he was about to drop on the floor, I grabbed him by the shirt and slung the rubberman on my right shoulder.

"What are you doing!" Nami shouted while picking up Luffys hat. She was also afraid of me, probably from the way I just talked to her.

_"Note to self: apologize to her."_ I thought and knocked Zoro on the ground where I grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt. I was grateful when the people made room for us to leave. It saved me the trouble of squirming around them like a worm.

"You sound like you know everything." Bellamy's voice echoed in the pub. "You sound like this New Era is meant for weaklings who dream of meaningless things. Those dreams are for little kids! Those, who are just as weak as your talk!" I felt something coming towards me, but ignored it since it was him – ironically – acting like a little child now.

*SMASH!*

Apperantly the big kid just threw a bottle of rum on the back of my head. Sure it hurt, but I wasn't going to let myself show any signs experiencing pain. "Now I know where the rum's gone."

"What do you believe in huh!" Bellamy shouted in rage. "Tell me what do you believe!"

I slowly turned my head to look at him. A wide, predatory grin forming in my mouth which made several people – including Nami – take a step back. "I believe, whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you... stranger... *chuckles* how fitting of me. Enjoy yourself while you still can! Shishahahahahaha!" I laughed and complimented myself on the succesful evil laughter.

The pub instantly went into an uproar once we left. The drunkards in it shouted something about ''Get the hell out of here!" or "Never come back yer scumbags!" Those were of course ignored while I was dragging the two guys.

Once we were a good distance away from the pub. A huge man eating pie started to shout. "Sky Island does exist. Zehahahahahahaha!" I looked at the man gobbling pies like a vacuum. "This cherry pie really is the best!"

I unceremoniously dropped the two guys off me and walked towards the strange man. "Really? Let me have one."

The man threw one of those pie boxes at me whilst laughing his ass off. I had to eat the thing with my hands since I lacked the utensils to eat the stuff. "Reminds me of good ol' grandma."

"You're the man from before." Nami stated as I looked at her.

"You know the Pie-ossan?" I said between bites. You get hungry after messing up with numerous of people like I have today.

"Someone Luffy was about to brawl with back at the hellhole." She said with a sad, angry look. Most likely a look of helplessness for not doing anything and/or causing this whole mess in the first place by shouting Sky Island like a posessed farmer.

"Why the long face, 'Nee-chan? Those three won that fight." He particularly looked at me. "That speech was pretty impressive, kid. That took some balls to march in and take control of the situation. May I ask how you did that?"

I gave him a calculating look with a raised brow. _"He looks familiar."_ I gulped the pie I processed in my mouth and looked at him. "Dunno, I felt like it. Got a problem with that?"

"Zehahahaha! No, kid, not at all!"

"Zoro!" Nami suddenly shouted. I looked at the rising swordsman with a lopsided grin. "Luffy!"

"Guess I have to hit you guys harder the next time you do some dumbshits like that."

"This 'New Era' they talk about is _shit_!" The Pie-man exclaimed and dramatically raised his hands in the air with one holding a bottle of rum. "The age where pirates dream is over! Eh!"

_"I'd say it has just begun. For me at least." _I thought with a grin that no on saw.

*THUD!*

The pie-man slammed his rum on the wooden pathway. "PEOPLE'S DREAMS NEVER END! AM I RIGHT?" The people around us began to call us nutjobs and other names which were ignored by the man sitting in front of me. "It ain't easy to surpass a person! Let them laugh. If you seek the Summit, you'll find fights your fists alone could never take you to! Follow it! Zehahahahahaha!"

"Let's go." Zoro's voice made itself clear after he dusted himself off from any soot he got.

"Okay..." Nami said with some amount of relief making its appearance. "Luffy, Ezek-kun."

Me and Luffy continued staring at the huge Pie-man. I had trouble remembering anything about him. It's like he's a major character in here that I have to know or else he'll be as troublesome as Sanji in nude beach for females.

"Oh, looks like I've held you up." The man stood up and grabbed his belongings. "I see you're in a hurry. I hope you make it there. To Sky Island! Zehahahahahaha!" He turned around and walked to where ever the hell he's going to.

I skillfully stood up and finished the rest of my delicious pie before Luffy snatches it from me.

"Hey, he might have known something about Sky Island. Who was that guy?" Nami asked our Captain who shrugged his shoulders at her.

"Dunno. And it wasn't 'that guy'."

"Huh? Wasn't 'that guy'? Then... what?"

"It was 'those guys'." Zoro 'explained' to our already confused navigator.

"I concur. Try not to confound to 'these guys'. They hate when someone does that." I nodded my head like a wise sage.

"I guess you're right." Luffy said without really meaning it.

"What do you mean? You mean that guy had nakama with him? Where were they? Hey, tell me!" Nami asked questions after question that we – as men – put it off as her nagging at us like housewifes.

* * *

><p>Our treck back towards Merry was rather uneventful. Meaning it was mostly silent with Nami giving me tentative looks here and there. Yeah, I admit that I was a bit scary and rude towards her, but that's not changing the fact that she nearly got us killed.<p>

"L-L-Luffy, Zoro!" Usopp shouted once we were near the Merry. "How'd you get all messed up! What the hell happened!"

"Are you alright, Nami-san!

"Doctor! We need a doctor now!"

"That's _you_! Go help them!

"No one want's to know about me?" I asked, a bit humored that I was ignore. How ironic.

We boarded the ship and Chopper instantly began to treat the beated guys with bandages and doctor stuff. Usopp just told me that Daxter went to sleep. If I didn't know it any better, the precursor has the same illness as me. Albeit in vice-versa compared to mine.

"So? How many monsters did you end up fighting?" Usopp inquired.

"Just a pirate. Don't worry, it's all finished." Luffy – now in his normal, cheerful voice – said while being tended by Chopper.

"Riiight." I humorously rolled my eyes.

"You guys may think it's finished, but I don't. What the hell! You men are supposed to take on whoever wants to fight you and beat them up!" I saw Zoro was about to inject something in her rants, but I stopped him with a hand wave.

"Ignore her, that's the best medicine for you now." I chuckled as he gave me a angry look.

"You didn't have to hit us."

"Stop whining you wuss."

"Oi, how come she's so pissed when she wasn't even hurt?" Usopp said and looked at me. "How come you're not hurt too? I'd imagine if one of you monsters get in trouble, so does they all."

"I leave them for 5 minutes, five-whole-minutes and look what happens." I rubbed the back of my head from the impact the rum bottle made with it.

"What were you doing in those 5 minutes?" Chopper inquired while Luffy seemed abnormally enthusiastic for someone who got his ass kicked around.

"Where are those friends of yours?"

I chuckled some more and restrained myself from blurting out everything. "Their back in their shadows. Publicity isn't really their forte, but I did get some rather vital info." My expression then turned into serious one. "There seems to be a new problem arising here. From what they told me, a group of Goverment dogs are killing off pirates like annoying flies. Supposedly, there shouldn't be any information about them since they barely leave people alive to know anything about their existence. Seems like I was lucky I found those guys."

"Why would they do that?" Zoro asked now fully intrested.

"Rumor has it that their looking for a ancient artifact capable of turning the whole world into living chaos. They told me that their Boss – who's said to be a God – controls those... uhm, high ranking angel's of his to kill any pirate. The irony in here is that the 'God' was a ex-pirate himself and second in line to become the King of Pirates next to Whitebeard."

"How strong are they?" A grinning Luffy asked.

I returned the grin, although mine was a strained one. "I... don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Sanji asked without that hostile tone he usually aimes at me.

"I only know that the weakest of them is stronger than Crocodile, while their strongest is enough to put the whole Shichibukai look like four-legged toddlers with arthritis." I replied bitterly. If those Archangels are strong, then how am I supposed to protect these guys from them. _"This is so wrong on so many levels. I remember once saying I want strong opponents and now that I got one or seven. I don't know how to take it." _I sighed at myself, this is getting really frustating to deal with. I gently closed my eyes to calm myself. _"If those guys want me, then come and get me. I'll kill every last one of them if I have to."_

I don't know how much time has passed, but I guessed it was alot from the whole crashing sounds I've been hearing. Including the one where Robin found a map and said something about Montblanc Cricket.

"Yosh, let's go check it out." Luffy announced where I made a lazy 'Aye' and stood up. There was simply too much to think that I wasn't paying much attention to anything.

* * *

><p>After this whole mess with yet another monkey we encountered. I was helping Usopp patch the ship he damaged with soundwaves.<p>

"Damn orangutan and his voice. Putting even more holes in the ship." Usopp complained.

"Cheer up," I smiled and hammered down a few nails. "it could've been worse."

"How worse?" Chopper asked while holding the tool box for us.

"Do you guys believe in karma?" I asked out of blue.

"Karma?" They both stopped what they were doing and looked at me. "What's that?"

"Well, you see. Karma is where if you do something good, something good happens to you. If you do something bad, something bad happens to you."

"So your saying that something bad will happen to those guys in the pub." Zoro stated while maintaining the main mast.

I grinned at that. "That solely depends on the deed their done in their life, but don't worry. They'll get their share of... karmic balance dawned on them."

"Why do I have this feeling that your gonna do something that will most likely traumatizes people?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Don't give me your crap. Your acting just like that again." I stopped what I was doing and gave Zoro a look.

"Like what?"

"That you're going to do that same shit you did back in Whiskey Peak."

"Who knows." I chuckled darkly. "Maybe I will just snap and do that again. My patience is all time low and I had this weird crave that I should go on a manslaughter on everyone."

"You're kidding, right?" Usopp stuttered and backed away in fear.

"I'm kidding. Manslaughter sounds even worse than murder. Like I'm some butcher in evil meatshop and ground some people for my amusement." I jumped over the rail and began to work on the other side while sticking on the side of the ship. There wasn't much work to do there, but it was still time consuming so why not.

"A-AWESOME!" I heard Luffy and Usopp shout in amazement. "Is that his house!"

I was curious, but that emotion died once I saw the castle in front of us was actually a huge ass cardboard made to look like a castle.

"A man who dreams, huh?" Sanji said and lighted a cigarette. "More like a big show-off."

"What!" Usopp and Chopper shouted. "He only has half a house. The rest is just makeshift."

I shrugged and jumped from the ship just in time to see Nami order Chopper to dig for gold. Not that she'll ever find something worth around here. I saw Luffy and Usopp trespassing on someone's house while Sanji just aimesly strolled around.

I walked a bit more until I came in front of a old stump. What I found intresting was an old picture book just lying in there.

"What's this? A old, picture book?" Nami walked next to me and looked at the book.

"Liar Norland." I read the title and smiled. "This brings back memories."

"You know it, Ezekiel-kun? But it says this book was published in North Blue."

"The old man back in Lisnor was a native from North Blue. He had one of these and gave it to me as a sign of gratitude. It's a famous children book I used to read for kids after a show." I looked at Sanji and waved the book at him. "Say, you were born in North, right?"

He looked at me and quirked his visible eye brow in surprise. "How did you-"

"Zeff." I deadpanned at him. Sure, I already knew he was from North Blue, but saying it in front of him wouldn't be very wise.

"Right," Sanji nodded. "North Blue is where I was born, but I was raised in East for majority of my life. As you said, that book is pretty famous. It's just a fairy tale for kids, but I heard this guy Norland was a real person."

Nami then began to read the story for them, which I quickly tuned it out. I remember reading that book to Lisanna at least dozens upon dozens of times that it was permanently burned in my head. If that wasn't enough, the kids also wanted their share of story time. Since I couldn't storm into anyones house and read bedtime stories at the same time without the use of Shadow Clones. The parents of the kids – Lisa's friends – kindly asked me to attend to their school activity. I was mostly popular with children.

_"At least it was a good change of phase from the usual hide-from-your-fangirls gimmick I did." _The ottsel never understod why I ran away from them. No one understands me anymore, not even I understand myself when the time arises.

It didn't occur to me that I was staring at some bubbles arising from the water. It looked weird to me so I curiously leaned forward.

"Yo Ezekiel! Whatcha looking at?" Luffy asked and crouched down next to me.

"Dunno, looks like the seas farting at us."

"Hahahahaha!" Luffy laughed and viciously patted me on the back. "I knew we had the same point of view. Farts are cool."

"I take that as an insult." I said with narrowed eyes. I was also about to make a rant to him, but fate didn't let me have that.

*SPLASH!*

A hand shot out from the bubbles and grabbed the both of us towards the sea. I caught a small look of another huge man. This one more muscular than the Pie-man and a chestnut on its head.

I faintly looked around me and noticed Luffy rapidly sinking towards the bottom of the sea. _"Shit!" _I shouted the curse word in my head and started to swim after him. The bane of all Devil Fruits is that it condenses every muscle on the users body, making them feel like a rock once submerged in water, great.

I finally managed to grab Luffy and started to swim towards the surface. I had to strengten myself with chakra to pull the heavy rubberman up. "*Gasp!* What the hell was that all about!" I shouted at the man who seemingly passed out in front of us. My consern for Luffy vanished as I glared at Sanji and Zoro. "Oi! What's with that! Beating up old folks like those Devil worshippers! I swear, youngsters these days."

"What were you two doing?" Usopp reprimanded us, but his gaze turned to me. "Ezekiel, I didn't expect you to do something this stupid. Where's the responsibility, man!"

Luckily – or unluckily – Luffy vouched for me. "Bubbles were *cough!* coming up from the sea! Me and Ezekiel were looking at them, and then a chestnut appeared! But the chestnut was actually an Ossan *cough!* and then he pulled both of us into the water!" He then looked around him 'till the rubberman noticed the heavily breathing chestnut-man. "Ossan!"

* * *

><p>After the whole mishap of misunderstandings. We carried the old man inside his house where Chopper tended to him. I was currently just looking around the place and spotted an old photo hanging in the wall.<p>

"Guys," I called out to them and pointed to an old picture, where the two monkeys we met were with the old man in front of us. "don't these guys look-!"

"OLD MAN, ARE YOU ALRIGHT!"

"Familiar? Nevermind." I sighed and looked towards the two ape-like men trying to edge their way through the door we left open. Usopp and Chopper began to panic their ass off, saying that they've come to kill us.

"What the hell are you doing here!" The ape – who's name I sadly forgot – asked us with narrowed apisch eyes. The odd thing about him though was the extremely long, light green hair.

"What did you do to our our old man!" This time Masira yelled.

"What are you talking about? We're taking care of the Ossan. Get lost." Luffy bluntly told them.

"Luffy, this is their home. You can't force people to leave their own homes unless your robbing them."

"Did someone say 'rob'?" Nami's voice came from the corner where she was packing valuable vases and paintings.

"That was a metaphor! Put those things back where you took them!" I pinched the bridge of my nose from the upcoming headache. "Just leave them okay, please."

"A-Alright, sure." Nami looked down in sadness. Ignoring the ape men who were crying their hearts out. I walked towards the saddened navigator and helped her set the things she was about to steal.

"At this rate, I'm going to have a heart attack before I reach my twenties. Assuming I even live that long with you guys around."

"Do you have to be such a pessimist?" Nami, after getting over from whatever trauma she just experienced, glared at me.

"Pessimist?" I blinked at her. "I always considered myself a realist with issues."

"I'm not surprised about the issue part." Nami giggled, which frankly set me on ease hearing that. I thought I might've break her like one of those paper mashe dolls in the daycare.

"Every rose has it's thorn," I chuckled and set the last vase in a neaby shelf.

"Yeah, and your the biggest one in the side of my butt." Nami said and suddenly closed her mouth with a huge blush in her cheeks. I slowly turned towards her with my mouth agape.

"Do you know how... attractive that just made you look." I stated with a blush of my own. I did say that women who make witty comments like that are well, hot, in my opinion. Nami didn't say anything. She just turned around and ran towards where the other guys were talking with the monkey men. "But that doesn't change the fact that she's a troublesome girl."

* * *

><p>So, long story short. Cricket woke up, apologized and tried to shoot at Usopp for saying that he's trying clean his family story clean. There was also his background story about being teased for having the blood of an idiot in his veins and stuff like that.<p>

I could somewhat sympathize with him. Growing up because you looked different from the herd isn't something anyone should experience, but yet they do. Xenophobia is tearing humanity apart.

Cricket then explained that his previous ancestors all tried to redeem themself. Only to find nothing and die in vain. He also said that he ran away from home to become a pirate just so he could be free from Norland's curse.

His story was really ironic. Too ironic for my taste, but nothing I couldn't handle. There was the story about the monkeys too. Their supposed to be the fans of the cursed Cricket.

"Well, enough about the monkeys. I wanna know how to get to Sky Island, Ossan!" Luffy shouted after he threw Usopp on the wall for no apparent reason.

"You're a pretty impatient guy." Cricket sorta complimented Luffy. He then took a random book and threw it at Nami who said it was a logbook over 400 years old. Nami read the book aloud and I could feel the crew getting very anxious to get to Sky Island. Wavers, Skyfish and crap like that are intresting. It was nice seeing them this happy after the accident in Mock Town.

_"I shall look forward meeting you again, Bellamy Pirates." _I thought with a low, dark chuckle.

* * *

><p><strong>[To Be Continued]<strong>

Wohoo! 3 chapters in 3 days! Man I'm on a roll here and we all know the reason. We'll I know, but I'm sure some of you know too. And I know how to do that line thing! Props to me!

Again, amazing reviews, they made my day and other good things that makes me feel normal from the populace. About the movie, thing, stuff... I might've rewrite the thing again. I wasn't satisfied with it and had to vent my anger on porkchops (even though I don't eat pork)

It breaks my cold, stony heart that there are so many eager readers, but none of the make any move to send a little word of encouragement. So from this day forth, I shall make list of people who don't review and banish them to George Takei's little garden of happiness. And yes I'm cereal, or as cereal I can be this morning with my cereal.

I don't know if anyone noticed, but is Ezekiel getting a bit... I dunno... bananas? You know, because there are monkeys here and... nevermind.


	46. Amend Your Past Mistake

**Chapter 46: Amend Your Past Mistake.**

**Disclaimer: Sleep is just a substitute for caffeine.**

* * *

><p>[Cricket's Crunk, Ezekiel's POV]<p>

"What did you want to tell us, Ossan?" Usopp asked as we all neatly sat on those stump-stool and table. I was feeling rather uncomfortable sitting on one. Mainly because there were times where I couldn't feel the blood flowing through my butt.

"Listen up, you guys!" Cricket exclaimed. "First, I'm going to tell you everything I know about Sky Island. Though, I don't know if any of it is true, so it's up to _you_ if you want to believe it or not."

"Yep, I believe you." Luffy quickly answered with a nod.

"Me too. I always trust big men who nearly drowned us." I also nodded with my arms crossed.

"That's too fast you two." Usopp gave a short slap to Luffy since he was closer to him. If that would've been me, I'd probably smash his head against the wooden stump-stool.

"There's something peculiar that happens in this part of the sea." Cricked said and began to explain us the theory of the Knock-Up Stream with its clouds formings. It was actually so boring, I closed my eyes and feigned sleep to let the man explain everything right over my head.

Now, being me and suffering from a possible sFI (sporadic Fatal Insomnia), could be a bitch sometimes. Sure the doctors were amazed that I'm not dead yet and offered to test me in exchange for money. I wasn't really keen back then on having people dissect me in the name of science. What made me refuce the whole idea completely was the chance of me dying and as I said before. I want to die like gramps – who died peacefully in his sleep. Not screaming like the passanger in his car.

_"Gramps was a fighter."_ I sadly thought of the another old man who meant a lot to me.

Why do old people keep dying on me?

"One minute! What kind of insane explosion can make the water shoot up like that!" I caught Nami shout about the Stream shooting water high in the sky.

"Simple, we'll use Uranium-235." I added absentmindly.

"Uranium-235?" They all asked with heads turned towards me.

"What's that?" Zoro inquired after he was woken up by Usopp and Luffys constant cheers.

"It's commonly used in nuclear warheads for massive amount of dest-." I stopped and looked around at the pirates stating towards me expectantly. "Forget about it. It's just a dumb idea that could get us all killed."

"Then why suggest it in the first place, brainiac." Nami growled.

* * *

><p>"Y-Yosh! Let's give up on Sky Island!" Usopp fearfully looked at me and Luffy while we kept laughing for no goddamn reason. "This is crazy! Listen here you two! We'd have to be the luckiest of the luckiest of the luckiest of the luckiest to make it!"<p>

"I feel like gambling!" I fisted the air with a wide grin.

"Let's go!" Luffy cheered as we made a dramatic high-five at the prospect of going to the sky.

"I knew it. Look at the Going Merry! There's no way she'll survive after being subjected to your harsh treatment to her! I can feel her pain, she just can't stand up to a disaster like that in this state!" Usopp complained with tears strimming down his face.

"He's right. Even if that ship was brand new, it could never make it!" Cricket lighted his own cigarette he probably snatched from Sanji. "Speed, weight, strenght. That ship would be blown up right along with the explosion."

"Well what are we waiting for?" I grinned. "I wanna see things blow up, yeah!"

"How... evil." Luffy and Usopp shuddered.

"Sorry to spoil your fun, but you don't have to worry about that. I'll have Masira and Shojo refit your ship. Of course, they'll strengthen the ship's frame as well." Cricket told us with a lopsided grin directed at me. I guessed it was because the old man ruined my fun.

"Yeah! Leave it to us, you guys!" The monkey men shouted inside Cricket's hut. How did they cramp themselves there will forever be a mystery to me. Those guys were huge!

"Thanks for that!" Luffy happily beamed at them.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Nami said and continued before Luffy interrupted her. "For starters, we can only stay on this island for at most another day. After that, the Log Pose will readapt to the next island's magnetic field."

Usopp looked particularly happy at that. "Right, right! We won't make it in time!"

"If you believe in it, then we can make it." I threw my first corny line since landing here. A odd feeling of pride and embarrassment flowed through me.

"I know you're not a psychic, and you probably don't know, but... how many days will it be before the next Knock-up Stream? Or how many months? No, how many years?" Usopp asked Cricket a barrage of questions.

"Tommorrow afternoon. If you're going, you'd better get ready."

"YOU MEAN WE'LL MAKE IT!"

"What? If you don't want to go, then don't."

Usopp got slightly angry at that and pointed his finger towards Cricket. "You're lying!"

"It takes one to know one, right?" I chuckled with Nami and Chopper giggling next to me.

"Shut up! There's something fishy about this!" Usopp indignantly shouted at us. "We just met you today! Aren't you being a little too nice!"

"Oi, Usopp!" Luffy shouted, but was cut of by the sharpshooter who glared at Cricket.

"Shut up! This Sky Island, our best chance of getting to a legendary island we don't even know the location of is tomorrow! And to help us get there, you're gonna refit and strengthen our ship! That's just too good to be true! Just what the hell are you plotting! You're the descendant of Liar Norland, right? We can't tru-!"

I had enough about his ramblings and viciously grabbed him by his overall with a vice grip. The guy yelped in fear as he tried to get away. "So you're gonna act just like them, huh?"

"Who?" Usopp panicly shed those anime-like tears and tried to find help.

"You know who I'm talking about! Those villagers back in your home island. I remember you told me that no one believed a word you said after lying through your teeth. And that's because you brought that on yourself. Now, here you are, accusing someones _dead_ ancestor crimes and saying their all the same." I let go of Usopp who dropped on his knees. "Imagine if your descendants were constantly reminded for your lies. I expected more from you, Usopp, I really did."

That said, I walked past him and sat near the sea. I faintly heard Cricket talk about Masira's recordings and guessed that the Knock-Up Stream will most likely occur tomorrow.

"OLD MAN! The food's ready!" The monkey duo shouted with Sanji appearing between them.

"Nami-swan~! Lunch is ready!"

"The Knock-Up Stream is tomorrow south from here. I'm not 100% sure, but there is a high probability those two events will coincide." I looked over my shoulder to see Cricker mumble something to Luffy and the others. "I'm happy to have met a bunch of idiots like you."

The rest went over my head as I began to beat myself for being too rough on first Nami and now Usopp. It wasn't my intention, but I'm really stressed out. "No rest for the wicked." I chuckled while looking at the sea. I was never a fan of the seas before because my father was a Marine. And since Marines and seas were like peas and carrots. I grew to dislike them as much as I did with my fate. Even though I don't believe in faith. "Maybe I should've have seen a shrink, or visited an asylum, saved me some trouble. What do you think?"

"I'm not much of a people person, but I'm sure I can give you some advice."

"That sentence you just said," I chuckled combed my hair with my fingers. "it brings back some memories. I give, what is it that you wanted to school me with?"

The man next to me laughed, it was obvious to me it was Cricket who sat next to me without even looking at his direction. "Any dumb moron can face a crisis at hand – it's day to day living that wears you out."

"Ah! The quote of my life!" I grinned, not taking my eyes of the nearly setting sun. "Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment to see the clear future ahead of you!"

"Not what I was about to say, but that works too!" Cricket laughed with me and I could feel the man was much happier now. "Thanks for what you did back there."

I waved the guy off with a hand motion. "Nah, don't thank me about something I regret. I should've acted more... uhm... what was the word used to describe people with more wisdom than his other species?"

"Mature?"

"Sane, yes, that's the one. I should've acted more sane." I made a full-blown laughter with my head facing the sky. "Sometimes my mind, for reasons I don't necessarily want to know, just decided to go to the store for a quart of milk! Sounds sane to me!"

"You're one strange kid." Cricket also laughed and stood up. "Now, let's eat. I want you all to enjoy youselves at my house. My comrades." He offered me his hand which I grabbed and pulled myself up.

"I guess I have no choice. Once the love cook finds out I've missed dinner, he'll probably tear me a new one with a blunt knife." Me and Cricket walked towards the half-pint hut. I could smell the delicious food from here. A shame it had to be slightly postponed by Usopp who hugged me. I understand the bromance and the forgiveness he sought for my 'wrath', but this was a bit too extreme. "Yeah, yeah. I forgive and forget. Can we go and eat now? I'm femished!"

At least I wasn't the only one who got the love Usopp was sharing. He quickly went towards Cricket who tried to keep him at bay. A 17-year-old hugging a old, bare-chested man covered in sweat isn't really a memory I want to reside in my head.

_"Quick! Think of Nami naked!"_ I shut my eyes and picked the bathhouse show Nami made for us in exchange for small beli's. _"I effin' love the Sharingans! Photographic memory without being autistic is a perk and pain in itself!"_

* * *

><p>Now here I am, partying with the pirates, ex-pirates and monkey pirates. Sure they know how to throw a party and I was enjoying myself immensely. Wished something like this would've happened a lot back in home.<p>

"Damn, the rum tastes great today!" Cricket shouted while pouring the beverage down his throat. It was weird seeing someone drink and talk at the same time. My uncle tried it once and spilled the whole contents on our new rug.

"Hey, eat up! Eat up!" Sanji encouraged. "There's a whole course of pike and more still to come!"

I saw Usopp being his cheerful self again after he apologized and good thing too. Now I don't have to preach to him, which left me with someone else I had to preach to. And that someone was currently sitting next to me. At first I wanted a quite place of my own, but she insisted that she wanted me to be next to her.

Not sure why.

"Oi, Nee-chan," Cricket exclaimed in his slight drunked giggles. "come sit by me! That moody brat ain't worth yer cups!" He pointed at me with another fit of giggles.

A tick mark made its way on my forehead. "Watch it old timer!" I lightly tapped my tanto. "Or else you'll lose that nut you call a hair!"

"Oh! So there is a bark in that mouth, runt!" He challenged me, but quickly lost his intrest and trudged towards Robin sitting alone in the corner. "The skull's right eye..." Cricket said with an eerie voice. "...is where I saw the gold."

Everyone stopped doing their activities to listen in to what the man had to say. _"Right eye? Gold?"_

"Blotted with tears, those were the last words Norland wrote: 'The skull's right eye is where I saw the gold!'. That same day, Norland was executed. Even after coming here to Jaya, I still don't understand what he meant by that. The skull's right eye. Maybe it's the name of a city that used to be here. Or maybe it was a metaphor for his own inevitable death. The blank pages that follow tell us nothing. That's why we dive! We see a dream on the ocean floor!" Cricket stood in front of us all and made the speech he just said.

I bet Norland was a cool guy.

"That's right!" Masira shouted.

"We're gonna fly!" Luffy added his own which made me grin.

"Fly you say, eh?" That was something I want to experience. It's been a while since I had adrenaline flowing through my veins. _"They better not mess with the gravity."_

Cricket then began to tell us stories of Norlands landing on the island, saying that he heard a most peculiar bird call coming from the forest. The sound he heard was large, very large and bell striking. An odd description if you ask me.

"The sound of that great, golden bell was carried far and wide as if it was signaling the prosperity of a great city of the past. The fleeting sound that, upon this vast sea for a great many years, a prosperous civilization bloomed."

"A bird, sound, beak..." I mused over and looked at Nami's direction. "...navigation, orientation, direction..."

"Are you drunk?"

"Drunk, monk, little spotted skunk..." A light punch to the head woke me up from whatever mental trip I had and looked at Nami. "Something you'd like to say, sweetcheeks?"

Nami blushed a light shade of red, which I instanly pegged it being the alcohol taking its toll on her. About time too. "Stop talking gibberish." I huffed at her. I wasn't talking gibberish, I was trying to remember the event that should happen and it had something to do with birds.

"Birds... I wonder how their doing." I thought about my autobots, again. _"Maybe I could-"_

"Gold!"

My train of thought was shattered by Nami shouting and running towards Cricket who set a three beautiful bells in front of him for demonstration.

"What's so very 'large' about it?" Usopp inquired.

"This isn't the bell he wrote about. They're just bell-shaped ingots. I found these three on the ocean floor." Cricket explained.

"Ingots?" Chopper asked me for clarification.

"It's a mass of metal cast into a convenient shape for storage or transportation to be later processed." I explained to the little doctor. "I guess that bell is used as their currency reserve for something. You know, divide up gold into gram masses and stuff like that." I scratched my head to remember my lessons in history.

I wasn't that good with history, I'm more of a here and now kinda guy.

"Oh, so the City of Gold does exist!" Luffy gleefully shouted.

"That doesn't prove it, though. You could find something like that lying in any old ruin." Shojo quickly added, closely followed by Robin who also added something of her own.

"But, that does prove that there was a civilization here. There must've been a trade and commerce going in their society."

"Right, and the call of that strange bird. Oi, Masira." Cricket called at his partner who showed us yet another golden artifact.

"Whoa, there's more!" Usopp shouted.

"Yup, that's all of them."

"Golden bells and birds. They might be symbols of ancient Jaya." Sanji said.

"I'm not sure, but this might have been part of an ancient molding. This is a Southbird, and it lives right here on this island." Cricket held the golden bird as it was something important to him. And it's no wonder, the man's been diving day and night to find that thing.

"So this is the Mystery Bird who sounds weird when it calls?" Luffy looked at the thing in amazement.

"Yeah, just like it says in the logbook."

"Southbirds have been used on ships since ancient times to-!" Masira explained, but stopped short in there and looked at Shojo with sweats running down their faces.

"Please don't tell us you forgot something important." I sighed with my head held down.

"OH DAMN!" The three partners yelled.

"What! What's wrong!" Luffy asked in slight worry.

"This is bad! You guys have to get to the forest! The forest to the south!" Cricket said and told us that we need to capture one of these birds or else this whole mess is a giant buzz.

"Yadda yadda, birds with special traits, Grandline being a major dick. Not the worst that's happened, but still a drag." I stood up and dusted myself. "A bird with an inner compass, huh?" I looked at Zoro with something close to pity.

"Hahahaha! So that would make Zoro less evolved than an animal!" Luffy laughed.

"Your're the last one who can tell me that!" The swordsman shouted to the Captain.

"The Southbird is the most extreme example of this. No matter how large a stretch of land is or how much the sea tosses and turns, it's body will remain pointed in a single direction. Anyway, without that bird, you'll never be able to set out from here. And as for Sky Island, you'll miss your only chance to get there!"

"WHY ARE YOU ONLY TELLING US THIS _NOW_"

"Because he's a senile, old man!" I said as we all ran outside in search for the bird.

"It's the middle of the night and you want us to go tramping around in the woods!" Usopp shouted.

"Here, ya'll gonna need these!" Shojo shouted and threw four butterfly-nets at us. "We're gonna get to work on your beat-up ship. In hindsight, we really shouldn't have had that party!"

"How can you say that _now!_"

"You have until morning to catch a Southbird and bring it back here!"

* * *

><p><em>"I wish there's something to kill in this forest."<em> I sighed wistfully. _"I have some pent-up aggression I want to get out of me."_

"What's gotten into you?" Zoro asked me with a side glance.

"Pardon?" I raised my brow at Zoro's unusual question.

"You've been acting... weird."

"How weird? Is it the usual me acting weird or weird acting like me?"

"No, I meant that your whole posture is different. The clenching fist, short-temper and I once saw your Sharingan flickering on and off."

"Are you alright, Ezekiel-nii?" Chopper who was sitting on my shoulders asked in worry. The reindeer said something about eating too much and that he has trouble walking. So I lend him my assistance for the moment. Don't want the cute thing to blow up.

Yes, it would be fun to see, but I don't want that to happen.

"Peachy, no seriously, I'm fine." Actually, I was far from fine. About those symptomes Zoro said, they did happend, a lot. Though, I just wasn't aware of the eyejutsu getting all demonic on me.

"If you say so, but as the ships doctor. I want you to inform me immediately if something's wrong with you. The earlier I find what ever it is that's causing you problems, the better."

"Roger, Roger. What's your vector, Victor?"

"What?"

"Nothing." I chuckled and looked at Luffy calling for the bird. He said something about betting with me for who can tame the weird bird first. "Hey, Luffy. About our bet."

"Hm, what about it?"

"If it doesn't listen to me, can I torture or brainwash it?" I asked and got the weird looks again. "Maybe not, PETA would sue the hell out of me."

"PETA? Is that some sort of food?"

"Nah, it's a group of tree huggers and hippies working together to force the world into eating vegetables."

Luffy gasped, "How... evil."

"Let's hurry up and catch one so we can get back to drinking." Zoro grumbled.

We got our heads closer to think of a plan. "The only clue we have is that it's got a weird call, right?" Our Captain asked us.

"And it looks just like that gold statue we saw, right?." Sanji mumbled, he doesn't sound too Gung-ho about our 'hunt'.

"I bet it tastes like chicken, right?." I absentmindly said without thinking.

"Are there really birds that look that screwy, right?" Zoro said.

"And saying it's weird call is too vague. How are we supposed to tell?" Usopp added and it was then that I noticed it was the men who were thinking of a plan here. Another nostalgic feeling swelled inside me. Instead of the usual happy or sad feeling, I had different one this time.

Like I was a caveman.

"Well, he said once we got into the forest, we'd be able to tell, that damn old man." Sanji cursed.

*CHOOOOOOOO!*

"WHOA! What a weird call!" The pirates – minus me and Robin – all yelled.

"That's it?" I raised my brow at the weird noise. "Sounded more like a ghost to me."

"Ahhh! Don't say that, bastard!" Usopp and Chopper shouted.

"Now that we're here, I guess we gotta do it." Zoro said.

"We've got four nets. Let's split up into four teams and search." Sanji suggested and I was all game with that.

"Does the plan of you three taking the ground while I search from the trees sound good?" I asked the crew who gave a short nod. I quickly returned the gesture and jumped from tree to tree like the amazing shinobi I am.

* * *

><p>After jumping for quite sometime here. I kept finding and losing the birds noise after it sent me one of those bees chase me. Of course, being the awesome, post psycho ninja with apparent rising anger problem. It wasn't a problem to cut them into tiny pieces with my katana.<p>

The downside of using a feminine sentient sword is that it hates bugs. And since I used her – literally – she cut my palm with one of her weird magics.

"Women are confusing. I can transform into one and I don't understand half of the things they do."

*SLASH*

"Okay, okay! Your not confusing, jeez!" I winced when another cut appeared on my palm. "This is getting too old you know."

_"Admit it, it's theatrical." _Yama's voice resounded in my head. I jumped again and stopped at the sturdiest branch where I gave my katana a questionable look.

"Don't you mean therapeutical?"

_"I stand by my word."_ She huffed and I could see she crossed her arms in defiance. I chuckled at her, at least someone knows how to lift my mood.

Unlike some I could name.

I took few jumps forward and a hard turn to the right when I heard the odd 'chooo'-ing noise the bird makes. Sure I expected bugs to appear like those annoying rattata's from Pokémon Red. But that wasn't the case, oh no, what the bird lead me to made me sum this whole day into something more fitting.

"That's it, I'm really gonna kill someone tonight."

Or at the very least something that fits me now.

* * *

><p><strong>[To Be Continued]<strong>

Should I make a short fight between Ezekiel and Bellamy or leave it to Luffy where our anti-hero meanwhile has a tiny get-together with Bellamy's crew?

In any case, it will be hilarious and slightly disturbing. Someone's gonna have a mental breakdown~!


	47. Ezekiel's Bloodlust

**Chapter 47: Ezekiel's Bloodlust.**

**Note: This chapter's kinda rushed so feel free to flame it. I don't mind that, but my pride minds it so be gentle.  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: I don't make money out of this! Leave me alone!**

* * *

><p>[Jaya's Forest, Ezekiel's POV]<p>

"Okay, what the hell is this?" I asked while looking at the strange, insectoid creature with my Sharingan eyes. It looked like a praying mantis, but with an strong looking grey chiting covering its 'arms','legs' and 'body'. It also seems like it has a large shielding plate to protect its head where I think it is the most vulnerable if broken. In its arms were razor sharp pincers and... is that a teeth on its torso? How bizarre.

Oh, and did I tell you that this thing's about the size of a dumb truck?

***CHOOOOO!***

The birds annoying voice rung through the forest. I guessed it was the cue for the mantis in front of me to rear its four legs back and propelled itself forward with an amazing feat of speed. It was easy reading its attack patterns since the mantis was just slashing around aimlessly.

Much like Zoro used to in our first spars.

"Let's see, I can't use anything fire related since it could burn the whole forest down with the birds. So lightning and wind it is, consider yourself lucky." The mantis gave me screech and did something even I couldn't foresee. It slammed its pincers on the ground and reared its legs back again. With another one of those screech, it lunged at me in a blur.

My eyes widened as I jumped up to avoid the slash that would've decapitated me. I landed on a tree branch a good distance away and glared at it. "So you wanna play rough? Fine, let's see who's faster." I made a quick sequence of hand seals and held my right palm facing down. I heard the mantis screech and slam its pincers on the ground again while giving me a look that said it was hungry.

Or bored and wants to kill something.

It didn't take me long to charge up my Chidori. I remember when it was a bitch to consentrate the chakra onto my palm and hold it so that it wouldn't numb my arm. Usually it took me about a minute to charge, but that was when my chakra was a pain to control. Now that my control is much more refined – thanks to Daxter pointing out my mistakes – it took me now 12 seconds to fully prepare it. Kinda let's you wonder why the mantis didn't attack me during that time.

They say the Chidori is a assasination jutsu, I say that's a load of bollocks. First, 12 seconds – which is my record so far – is way too long time to just sit and let it charge. Second, the things way too loud to use in assasination. An assasination jutsu it wasn't. But one hit, one kill jutsu it was.

You just need time. And Sharingans. And for your victim to be stationary.

***CHOOOOO!***

That sound made the mantis charge at me with the use of his body. I also did the same, albeit I used chakra instead of my body. I ran towards the thing with my own speed and saw the mantis reappear with its pincer ready to slice me in half. Since that wasn't the way I wanted to die, I kept running while keeping my body as close to the ground as possible. Seeing the pincer fly right over my head, I grinned and jumped towards its torso-mouth-thing where I rammed my supposed assasination jutsu in it.

The mantis let out a ear shattering screech and to add more pain in me. It bit my arm that was stuck on its torso-mouth-thing. Good thing it was already in deaths door or it would've bit my arm off.

I quickly tried to locate the bird, but wasn't so lucky as it was already gone from the scene. Grumbling, I looked at my victim with a look of satisfaction.

"That's why the dinosaurs went extinct; ME!" I shouted and grabbed the mantis by its leg where I began to drag and – in the near future – brag it to my nakamas. "The bigger they are, the cooler they are to kill."

* * *

><p>"Guys! Look what I found!" I walked towards the now petrified, surprised and amazed pirates with my victim of the day.<p>

"Whoa! Cool, a giant praying mantis!" Luffy grinned and started to inspect the thing like an experienced insectologist. "An intresting shade of coloring..."

I sweat dropped at him, not believing that he was smart when it came to insects.

"Glad I didn't meet one." Usopp wiped the non-existing sweat from his forehead in relief. "Did you see the bird?"

"Yeah, I did but got distracted by this bunny here." I said and kicked the mantis on its head. "Big, shitty fuck-bucket slashing around like it owns this place."

"Hey!" Zoro shouted indignantly.

"I was refering to this thing." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Why did you bring it here!" Nami shouted behind a tree.

_"Ah, she's afraid of these." _I made a lopsided grin at her. "No way I'm letting this go into waste. Its a good source of protein, which you'll need lots of it in our training."

Nami paled at the thought of eating these. Not that I can read minds, but I guessed that was what she was thinking now. "Are you saying that I'll have to eat that?"

"No, I meant that you use this as your training partner." I rolled my eyes, again, but this time in evident sarcasm. "Of course you'll be eating this. Five to six spoons should do fine."

"He's right Nami," Chopper came to my rescue. "your not eating healthy and this looks like a pretty good idea. It also contains lots of vitamins, calcium and minerals."

"What do you mean I'm not eating healthy!" Nami screeched, which kinda resembled the dead mantis Luffy was trying to gnaw its head off.

We all looked at Sanji with narrowed eyes. What I found particulary funny was that even Robin looked at him in slight anger. Or was it regret?

"What?" Sanji asked, a bit fearful from the ladies glare aimed at him.

"You've been stuffing the girls with sweets and cakes like a kid on sugar rush." I explained to him and patted Choppers pink hat in appreciation.

"I've been nothing but corteus to them!" Sanji shouted with small sweats rolling down his forehead.

"That's nice and sweet of you, but I don't wanna see that hot body lose its shape." I grinned with a small chuckle.

***BAM!***

"Stop being a pervert!" Nami growled at me, all red faced with both anger and embarrassment.

"It was a compliment." I rubbed my head to sooth the small bump on it. "If you can't take one, I'll stop praising you then. Its what we teacher do." Nami looked hesitant when I said that, but pegged it as some kind of after effect women have after they were complimented. _"I try to be polite and this is what I get? Karma has failed me yet again."_

"Can we please get this over with?" Usopp fearfully said while looking around himself. "There's eight of us and we pull a big zero. Pull yourself together, guys!"

"You too. You've been a constant liability." Sanji – who got over from the glares – side glanced at our marksman.

***CHOOOO CHO CHO CHOO!***

Again the weird bird mocking us. "``You'll never catch me! STUUUPID!´´" Chopper translated for us. I could've done that too, but I needed to bond with the animal.

"What was that!" Usopp shouted and took out his sling. "You came here just to gloat? I'm gonna shoot you down!"

Suddenly two arms sprouted from the birds sides and wrapped it immobile. Another arm appeared next to it and this one threw the shocked bird towards me. Not wanting to look like a fool, I grabbed the thing by its beak and looked at the perpetrator.

"If I can see it, I can catch it." Robin smiled a playful smile, which was returned by a light glare by me. I then threw the bird at Zoro who started to growl from the new task.

"You think your all that but your not." I grumbled and started to drag the pile of protein towards Cricket's place.

* * *

><p>"Ossan! We got the bird-!" Luffy cheered, but stopped short when we all looked around to see a smashed hut with three bloodied persons. I immediately let go of my prey and ran towards Shojo who was currently floating in the nearby sea Cricket previously dragged me. The monkey man with the long hair was heavy as hell and I had to strengthen my limbs with chakra to pull him out of there.<p>

Good thing this world's already messed up, otherwise Shojo would've drowned.

"Oi, gimme a hand here!" I shouted for whoever was near and luckily it was Chopper in his gorilla form who helped me out.

"Right!"

We managed to get Shojo on the shore, looking at the guy, I could see he was pretty beat up. Broken ribs, concussion and fractured skull. Kinda reminds me of Master's training some discipline in me.

"Oi, Ossan! You awake?" I heard Luffy shouted and instantly went to see Cricket also in a bad shape.

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! We were here, but we couldn't do anything! But, still... there's still time." Cricket slowly stood up despite him being in pain. "We still have time to strengthen your ship!"

"Take it easy, old time. Tell us what happened!" I helped the man up a bit. He was beat up the most, probably because the old man put up more fight than his ape companions. Not that I'm being disrespectful here. Just stating the facts.

"Nah, it's nothing. Don't worrry about it. It doesn't matter anymore. More importantly, did you-" Cricket stopped at what he said and looked at the bird that was now in Zoro's clutches. "That's it. Good job catching that Southbird. That will do fine."

"Yeah, it was a real pain." I smiled a strained smile which quickly changed into anger when I heard what Nami informed us.

"Luffy! The gold was stolen!" Silence reigned over us, hell even the bird was silent the first time since we got here. Though, that would be because its beak was tied with a rope.

"It... it doesn't matter. Just forget it. More importantly, you guys-!" Cricket got interrupted by an enraged Usopp who wanted to add something.

"What doesn't matter! Old man, you spent ten years beating up your body, diving day after day for that gold! And then you're-!"

"Shut up, kid!" Cricket shouted. "It doesn't matter. This is our problem. Got that? The three of us of the Saruyama Alliance have our duties. Your ship is in no shape to sail right now! We have to finish by morning! We're not giving up on your voyage! Listen, I swear that I'll get you to Sky Island."

"Guys, found something." Zoro said inside the shattered hut. I looked towards him and saw a mark which made my eyes narrow at it.

"A crossed-out smiley face with a wide grin showing teeth, classy." I made a small grin. They really are someone's bitches if their willing to mark areas like dogs.

"Bellamy's mark!" Nami also glared at the mark, but it was more in a surprise than anger. I saw Luffy stand up and I did the same.

"I know your doing something reckless." I stated and got a glare from Luffy. "Can I tag along?"

"If it pleases you..." Luffy said in a serious tone and tilted his straw hat to hide his eyes. Since I was closer to him, I saw that the Captain was mad. Like, really mad.

Sorta like master when I once hid his sake stash.

"No! Luffy, Ezek-kun! Don't do anything stupid now! There's only three hours left until we set sail!"

We ignored Nami ranting on us. It wasn't because we were rude, it mostly because Luffy wanted revenge and I wanted blood. Dark red _is_ my favorite color after all.

"Senchō," I called out to Luffy who looked at me. "I could cross the sea between this part and Mock Town in about 20, maybe 30 minutes. That's the easy way though, if you want, we could take the coast and take the longer route there."

Luffy made a quick serie of stretches and shook his head. "There's no need to."

"Suit yourself." I shrugged and summoned the hoverboard I was eager to try out. Luffy's just like me, not in brain capasity, but in behaviour. If something angers me, I want to run it out and/or beat the one who angered me.

"Oi, brats!" Cricket called to us. "Where are you going! You'd better not be messing in our business! Do you know who you're going-?" His rants were stopped by Zoro who offered him his prized white katana.

"If you want to stop them, you'll have to use this."

I smiled and hopped on my hoverboard. A half-seal later, the thing hummed and lifted me up. "Let's see what this baby got."

I heard Luffy crack his knuckles in preparation. "We'll be back by dawn." That said, Luffy ran ahead of me into the woods.

"You two have three hours." Nami glared at me. "If you delay us any more than that. It'll be your fault that we lost our chance to go to Sky Island."

"Gimme some credit here. If worse comes to worse, I'll just drag Luffy across the sea." I grinned at the pirates and kicked off with a light surprise at how fast this thing was. _"Maybe I should let Dax invent gears for me more often."_

* * *

><p>"Mary had a little lamb who's fleece was red as blood. And everywhere Mary went there was piles of bodies resembling a raging flood." I began to sing, if only to make things go faster. My mind was in rambles and I could taste the fear I'll be relishing tonight. Or blood for that matter.<p>

"THAT BASTARD!" Luffy – for a reason I can't explain – shouted and picked up the speed. I shrugged at him and did the same by pouring more chakra on the board.

"Easy there, Luffy." I said and wondered why did I just told him to calm down. "Sorry, my mistake. Go wild!"

He slowed down a bit and gave me quizzical look. "By the way, why are you here?"

"To make sacrifices for my dear lord Jashin-sama." I sarcastically remarked. "Nah, I just want to see blood. Helps my sheen."

"What has your clothers got to do with blood?"

"Hold that thought." I looked in front of us and sure enough, three flying mantises popped up from somewhere Oda knows. Sighing, I flashed through a set of hand seal and deeply inhaled where I let out a Grand Fireball from my mouth. The Uchiha favored jutsu did its job on incinerating those pesky insects into ashes. "Karen, my sister. She said that my clothes always have blood on them. I remember that she once joked that I feed my clothes blood to take over the world. That was about several years ago, so it lost its meaning once we knew how ridiculous it sounded."

"I don't get it." Luffy deadpanned at me.

I returned the expression. "I didn't expect you to."

* * *

><p>[Mock Town Pub]<p>

Me and Luffy finally arrived at Mock Town. And to make things more dramatic, we were both standing on a tower of sorts looking down at the pub.

"Here we are." I grinned and sealed my hoverboard into my seal tag. Looking at Luffy, I saw he inhaled deeply with rage in his eyes. Deciding to have my own fun, I jumped from the tower and landed in front of the pub where I leaned against its opposite building

"BELLAMY! WHERE ARE YOU!"

"Subtle as always." I remarked with arms crossed over my chest. Not five seconds later, the man Luffy wanted to beat appeared from the pub. Bellamy looked at me with narrowed eyes, but changed his gaze towards Luffy once I pointed up.

"We were just talking about you. Want something?" Bellamy arrogantly sneered.

"Yeah! Give back the Diamond-head Ossan's gold!" Luffy glared down at the hyena. It was like watching a old western film with Clint Eastwood and some random guy who's gonna get shot.

"Gold? The stuff that old man Cricket had?" Bellamy asked and crouched down. Just as I expected, his legs turned into springs and 'sprung' himself towards the tower Luffy lounged. "I ain't giving that back. I stole it from him, as a pirate. And being a pirate yourself, you shouldn't have any objections to that."

"I do. Those guys are my friends. So I'm stealing it back."

Even though they were high up there, I could still hear them. Looking around, the people inside the pub stormed out and looked up. Hell, there were even random people coming from random buildings to watch the coming fight.

"Hahahahaha! I gotta ask you... can you fight? Do you know how to throw a punch! What's a coward like you gonna do to me?"

I ignored Bellamy's taunts and grinned when the rest of his crew emerged. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the weakling little suborbinate." One of Bellamy's dogs barked.

I wasn't insulted, no, I was grinning at them. "That's coming from someone who's literally being held on a leash by a guy who likes to wear pink feather coat."

He looked taken aback. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh," I raised my brow which was directed towards a sweating Sarquiss. "So your holding back info from your nakamas?" A twitch appeared at the corner of my mouth. That's something I'm doing right now.

There was a lot of crasing in the background. Probably from Bellamy hopping around from building to building like a bunny.

"You." A large, muscular man with the upper-half of his face hidden by a light blue baseball cap. He wore a fur-lined dark-brown jacket, a green sash and spotted pants. What put me a bit on edge was that he scarily resembles like the Marine Admiral Akainu. "Your the one who ruined my fun!"

I made a 'Ah!' noise indicating that I remember him. He was the one whose attack I blocked with a kick. A murderous grin appeared on my lips. "Whacha gonna do 'bout it, big boy?"

Another man with white pants and black shirts shrugged. "Don't mind him, Ross. Let's just enjoy Captain's show."

My eyes narrowed at him. "Unfortunately, I won't let any of you _enjoy_ the show."

"Oh really?" Ross snarled and walked towards me. "I ain't afraid of you!" That said, he charged at me with a cocked back fist aimed at my head. I sidestepped the attack and let him stumble behind me. I knew he would attack again, obviously by the stomping sounds he's making. Sighing, I took out my tanto with my left hand and put enough chakra to let it resemble that of a straight sword, _chokutō._

With looking, I ducked down and let the arm swung past my head. Since the man ran at me from behind. He stumbled forward towards his nakamas and was about to lose his balance.

I quirked an eye brow at him. __"He looks like your typical fighter with an aggressive personality. A pity he won't be needing it anymore."__ I smiled at him in appreciation for no apparent reason. "I'm sorry, but were in a hurry here. Let's make this a quick one shall we?"

Growling, he ran at me with a speed that would make a snail look like at him with renowed respect. That was my point of view with the eyejutsu I had on though. Without it, he would've looked like an angry sprinter who accidentally injected himself with steroids.

With my free hand, I punched Ross in the stomach. The large man doubled over in pain as he tried to take oxygen back on his lungs.

***SLASH!***

Pity he won't need that too as I slashed his head clean off from the nape of the neck. The girls from Bellamy's posse shrieked while the guys stood there slack jawed. I glanced down at Ross who was lying there in his own blood. I then crouched down next to his head with a satisfied smile.

"Yup, he's deader than a dead dead guy. How delightful." I grinned and dipped my finger on the pool of blood. I was mesmerized by its color. Ross wasn't my first kill by anymeans and I doubt he'll be my last.

"I-I-It's h-him!" A random drunkard exclaimed. I briefly looked at his direction and saw he held three wanted posters in his arms. Maybe he saw how bad-ass I am and acts like an acquaintance of mine. Wouldn't be the first time.

I slowly stood up and – much to the observers disgust – tasted the blood in my finger. "Ah, AB+, my favorite."

This seemed to trigger something in Bellamy's crew. Something which made me chuckle a dark chuckle.

"Y-You monster!" A female voice shouted. I ignored it and looked at Ross shock filled head with slight pity.

"It's a shame you lost your head – a careless pirate who wound up dead." I tried to be dramatic and came up with an idea to rhyme my next sentences. Just to add more creepiness.. "You wore your sin like it was some kind of price – heart so cold and frail as ice."

I slowly walked towards the other pirates with my chokutō dragged on the wooden platform covering Mock Town for reason unknown.

Maybe it helps their sheen too, I don't know.

"I ain't afraid of you!" One of them – the one wearing plain beige pants and dark ocean-blue jacket with nothing under it – that one. He sorta stuttered but impressively held his supposed superior image he's been brainwashed with.

I merely gave him a glance which changed into a expression I thought was similar to a child who just found out that christmas came early. "Bravery doesn't suit that much – if anything, it only raises your ignorance, just a touch. Acting like that will only get yourself killed – not that I care, hopefully your not like my previous victim; reckless and unskilled."

I grinned, maybe I should have tried a career as a rap-artist.

Nah...

The man growled and ran at me, but not before a cry of "Hewitt, don't!" was heard. I didn't care who it was. I just wanted to see this man dead for beating up my nakamas.

A quick eyecontact and the man charging at me froze in fear. It wasn't actually a genjutsu I casted, more like a mix between killer intent and ninjutsu called Kanashibari no Jutsu (Temporary Paralysis Jutsu). Sure it might easily work on someone like Luffy, but against the rest of the crew it was highly unlikely. First, you have to be either dumb as fuck to fall to it or traumatized; which was filled to the brim in here by their comrades untimely death.

"Now what do we have here – a man turned child wet behind the ear. Did I scare you that badly? – don't worry my friend, I'll put you out of your misery gladly."

I jumped and neatly landed on Hewitt's shoulders. There was enough force in my jump to make the slighly taller man fall on his back with me sitting on his chest. I retracted my tanto to the size of a ordinary knife and set it close to his cheek. I could feel the grin on my face was threatening to tear my head off.

If it wasn't me, it would be cool to watch if you got that on film. Your jaw might dislocate and there would be no cause for your death aside from heavy bloodloss or decapitatation from the lower jaw up. Then you could sell it as a horror film and make a bundle of money. I know buyers.

"Hewitt!" Sarquiss yelled in fear. I guessed it was because I just put the knife in his mouth. Kinda like the Joker usually does to his victims. But not before he tells them how he obtained his scars, something which I lack right now. It would've made my day to imitate the act.

"Do you happen to know a friend of mine – he was just like you with more brains and spine. One day, he had a dream that he eagerly looked forward to – only to be crushed by people dumb as you. For weeks, months, years to come – he's confidence was equivalent that of a dried bread crumb. He couldn't take the spite you've been flouting – so he killed himself, just to let his soul go on a outing." I smiled a sad smile at him. "Dream was the only thing he had – where ever he may be, I hope he's glad. The only thing I could do to him now – is to slaughter you all like a sinful cow."

Hewitt was sweating bullets by now. If I had known how much fun it was to just scare the hell out of people. I would've done this ages ago too. Had master not installed some behaviour in me that is.

I pang of guilt washed over me. This wasn't what he wanted me to do. Sure these guys were major dicks and needed to be taught a lesson or two. But that didn't give me the right to kill them...

...maybe a little, but not slaughter them.

I gently stood up and hovered above him with a look of disgust. There was a brief moment where the people around me sighed. A malicious grin formed in my mouth from that. I reared my leg back and kicked Hewitt in the jaw, succesfully dislocating it with a pained yelp from the man beneath me. If he thought that I was done then he was gravely mistaken. I lengtened my tanto to its previous form and stabbed Hewitt in the right shoulder to its hilt. I then took his left elbow with both hands and snapped it backwards.

"!" Was Hewitts muffled shout behind the shattered jaw. Glancing forward, I took out my sword and slowly walked towards the rest of the pirates with the same creepy grin and swirling red eyes. I could feel my left arm burning in what I could decipher was excitement. It probably wasn't anything important so I let it do what i wanted.

"You bastard! Do you know who we are! We are the Bellamy Pirates! The man with the 55,000,000 beli bounty! I saw how much yours is! 39,000,000 beli isn't even close to beat our Captain let alone your miserable 30,000,000!"

I raised my brow at Sarquiss rants. __"I thought the bounties would've been updated by now."__ Shrugging my shoulders, I quickly closed the distance between me and him and pinned him to the ground. "That's a pretty looking tattoo on your chest – I wonder if it can withstand a small skin test."

"Wha-!" Sarquiss questioned, but screamed in pain once I made an X-mark on the grinning tattoo. It's not like I hate Doflamingo, he's a pretty cool guy. Dangerous, but cool nonetheless. "My tattoo! My pride!"

I ignored his shouts and looked where I heard a loud crashing noise. Few seconds later, Luffy emerged under a pile of broken planks unscathed. Raising my brow, I turned so that I could see the fight while Sarquiss was pinned to the ground. If he tries anything, I'll kill him.

Looking at Luffy, I could still see the rage in his eyes. Not that he was mad at me. He said it was okay for me to 'dispose' of people as long as their bad. What a nice guy.

Well, since the Bellamy crew were kinda out of commission now. I started to watch Luffys rather short, one-sided fight with the other Captain. At first there was a lot of bouncing around which – much to my amusement – ended with a fist to the head. Bellamy made a huge, wooden crater with just a punch, impressive. And all that with just pure force rather than my weak attemps to highten mine with chakra.

I winced a bit from the shock wave. Mostly because that has got to hurt like hell. __"Shit, if I had to put that much power in my arm. It would've costed me a lot of chakra, maybe as much as a normal B-rank jutsu. Which is a lot! For example Kage Bunshin is a B-rank jutsu, that shows that he's coming along nicely to surpass me."__ A grin formed in my mouth. Finally a chance to go full out on someone. So far my opponents were rather disappointing in our journey. Except Blade and Specter. The rest were... alright, I think.

I gently stood up and walked to the pub, but not before I took Sarquiss purple visor and set it on my head. Spoils of war and all that. The first thing I noticed once I was inside was the pub owner gazing at me and without missing a beat pointed to the stack of gold in the far left. I waved at the man and told him I was just here to return the gold to its righful owner. Sighing, I neatly sealed the stuff in my own mini dimensional pocket with other miscellaneous things and walked outside next to Luffy.

"Did you get the gold?" He asked in that monotone voice which made me proud. I rolled my shirt and showed him the seal tag. He kinda understod my proficiency in fuuinjutsu enough to know I had it with me somewhere. Nodding, Luffy set his straw hat on his head while looking at the unconsious Bellamy with pity.

"Oi, quit it with the jokes, Bellamy." Sarquiss, who now got up and held his bleeding chest tentatively asked. "C'mon, You're just playing around, right? Say something!" The only response he got from Bellamy was... nothing. The guy was out like a light bulb. "Oi, Bellamy! Quit with the stupid games! Stand up and give us the usual show!"

I rubbed me head in frustation. "Can I kill him Luffy?"

"No," Luffy shook his head. "Their not worth it." Just like that, the crowd fleed in panic. Not that I blame them. Luffy has that kind of charm in him.

"A fight that leaves you with pity only brings pain." I said while crouching down to Bellamy. There was a fist sized dent on his cheek and I was sure he got a concussion out of it. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if he'll be in a coma for the next 2 years straight.

"Why aren't you rapping anymore?" Luffy asked as I stood up again.

"I wasn't rapping." I turned around and walked away from the slack jawed Bellamy Pirates with Luffy catching up to me.

"Yes you were."

"Was not! Just because I'm black doesn't mean I rap!"

"See! your rapped again!" Luffy grinned one of his stupid grins at me.

"OI, BASTARDS! WAIT! I'M STILL HERE, AREN'T I!" Sarquiss yelled behind our backs. "C'MON, BRING IT! There's no way we'll lose to a dream-chasing idiots like you!"

"I swear to God if any of that guys blood is on my hair, I'm just gonna freak out." I violently shook my head. Seeing none, I grew a bit agitated. "Shit, maybe it's dried blood. That's gonna take like forever to clean off."

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING, GET BACK HERE!"

We both stopped and looked towards the other pirates over our shoulders. Luffy held his bloody fist high, acting all intimidating and stuff. I chuckled when I saw Sarquiss and one of his flunkies stumbling. They were so afraid, it was borderline cute.

"This reminds me of home." I wiped the small, invisible tear from the corner of my eye.

"Were going to the sky." Luffy bluntly said and pointed up. We both shared a quick laughter and bolted out of there.

At least my bloodlust was satisfied today, that's all that matters.

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><p><strong>[To Be Continued]<strong>

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><p>Wooohoo! Over 200 reviews and I still haven't published the movie thing. Sorry about that, but I've been having this feeling lately. It tells me that you don't deserve it and that I should read it myself over and over and over again.<p>

That or I'm just lazy to properly finish it.

Well whatever, hope you've enjoyed and spam some reviews on the way. The rhyming stuff idea was accidentally given to me by Yonet. I thought it would be cool to do that. It sorta reminds me of that one show where the story was "rhymie"

So tell me guys: how creepy was Ezekiel? Ratings are 1-10!

If people want to see more of these crazy stuff then you'll just have to wait. I plan to make a lot of these kinda stuff in the future.


	48. Knocking on Heaven's Door

**Chapter 48: Knocking on Heaven's Door.**

**I've decided to answer peoples reviews here (those which can be answered)... that is unless your a robot. I might do this from time to time... helps my sheen.**

_Thepirateprophet44_**: He's not a murdered... well he is in that view, but that's beside the point. The point is that their living in the Era of Pirates, so those things should be frequent when talking about pirates (like the ones in old times). Take for example Myevltwin's Assassins Among The Element. I love the story and wanted to make a fic where the laws of 4kids! are being constantly harassed. Ezekiel won't by anymeans soak his hands with the blood of innocents, only that he does what he finds is necessary. He is an assassin whether he likes it or not... no more spoilers.**

_Kenegi_**: I didn't know what you meant by the ''hellsing abridged'' you said, but once I found out about it, I literally ROFL'd my butt off. I also think I broke a rib or two while doing that. Alucards 'little bad-ass' line might made a debut in here... I don't know... maybe.**

_KuroHi91_**: He's not really mad... more like possessed by an evil, rapping milkman. Or that he just simply lost it in his adrenaline rush.**

_D.C Anilai_**: Glad to know that there are shy people who like this *cough* ''masterpiece'' *cough*. The comic site you linked... I'm still reading it, but I do have to say... I'm in love with Richard. Not in **_**that**_** way though, but more in that macho, latino kinda way. About setting a meeting with him and the warlock... I won't spoil anything *wink***

_The Prophet Of Lies_**: They all get stronged in their own pace so no worries. Ezekiel won't be a total Gary-sue.**

**Disclaimer: Goats are like mushroom. If you shoot a duck, I'm scared of toasters.**

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><p>A sigh of frustration escaped my lips. "Please Luffy, just give up on the beetle."<p>

"HELL NO!" He shouted. "I swear it was here somewhere and I'm gonna find it!"

"Do you want to get us killed? Nami-chan will castrate us with a rusty spoon once if she finds out about this."

"So?" Luffy said as it didn't matter. "You're her teacher, she'll have to listen to you."

I was dead frozen when he said that. "Y-You're right... why didn't I thought about that earlier? Saved me some troubles."

Luffy patted me on the shoulder with sympathy. "Don't worry, it happens to the best of us. I'm the Captain and I still get beat around the bush here."

I gave him a glare and jerked the hand off my shoulder. "Are you symphatizing with me? Stop doing that, I hate it."

"Your no fun." Luffy pouted and resumed his self-proclaimed mission to find the damned beetle.

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><p>"OIII~!" Luffy gleefully shouted at the pirates. "I did it!"<p>

"C'mon you two! We're past due to set sail!" Nami glared at us, mainly at me for not being the mature one.

"Check it out!" The future Pirate King shouted and held the beetle we found for 3 hours straight. At first I didn't want to help him, but he eventually got on my nerves and had to assist him. "It's Hercules! It took us forever to find him!"

"Why did you say I was involved with that?" I sighed and remembered about Luffy inability to lie. I swear, that will one day be the death of us all.

"A KABUTO BEETLE!" Nami, Zoro and Usopp shouted with large, shark-like mouths. "You went to find that!"

I apolectically rubbed the back of my head. "Gomenasai, we got lost on the road of life." I said and dodged Nami's attemps to clobber me while looking at the chicken-like Merry once her onslaugh was over. For once, I was loss at words and was broken out of it by a familiar feeling on my right shoulder.

"Dude, where've you been?" My sidekick inquired and rubbed its tiny blue eyes. "First I sleep for God knows how long and once I wake up you leave me. Don't I mean anything to you?"

"You mean to me as much as apples means to Newton. Had you not fallen from a tree and into my head. I wouldn't have to recite the variable-mass system three days straight."

"Touché." Daxter commented and looked at me oddly. "Say, you seem to be awfully calm now. Something happened that we should be aware of?"

That triggered something in the crew, specially Sanji. "He's right. You've been agitated for awhile and now you look as you've found inner peace."

"Do I now?" I smiled for no apparent reason. Maybe it was because of that 'inner peace' thing he just said.

"Yes," Sanji then narrowed his one visible eye at me. "I'm a bit skeptical about it."

"I guess I can open up a bit." I took a deep breath and calmly let it out. "I never thought I'll be able to grow tired of tormenting pirates who think too highly of themselves, but I suppose I can surprise even myself."

A bunch of face faults was heard. The only one who didn't exaggerate it was Robin who gave me a look of amusement.

"YOU GET YOUR KICKS FROM THAT!" They all yelled, including Cricket and the monkey men with their crew.

"Ah-ha," I nodded. "It was my favorite pass time back in Lisnor whenever I felt a twitch. But oddly enough, it's gone. Praise the Lord and all that shishkebabs! My prayers has been answered!"

Luffy was currently all over the thing called Going Merry, Flying Model they've been building while we were gone.

"IT'LL FLY!"

"Usopp, you such a narcissist! That's a terrible name for such an awesome ship. I move to call it... The Vane's Annihilator!" I nodded my head.

Zoro then walked towards me with a light glare. "What took you guys so long anyways?"

"I was tryin to remember when the sunrise was, but then it _dawned_ on me." I nudged him in the ribs. "Get it? Because its dawn, but its not... and..."

I was about to continue when Zoro gave me a deadpanned expression. "That's lame, man."

"It sounded better in my head."

"Okay, let's get this ship moving!" Usopp shouted. "You ready, men!

Me and Luffy walked to Cricket sitting on one of the stumps near his broken hut. I gave the old man a quick wave and set my hand on the larger stump that I thought was their table. A small burst of chakra later, the gold he owned emerged behind the cloud of smoke. With a little extra of course.

"That's for beating up your companions, insults, food, wine, damage and something else we did and don't want to admit." I smiled a warm smile while ignoring Nami glaring holes at my back.

I pouted a bit when I didn't get a reaction from Cricket about my little magic trick. But I could tell he was happy which in turn made me happy.

"Get on your ship. You don't have time. Are you planning to lose your chance to go to Sky Island?" Cricket yelled angrily at us.

Luffy grinned at him. "Right! Thanks for the ship!"

Cricket pointed at the monkey men and told us to thank them instead. I waved at them and saw Shojo had a jar filled with grey goo in his arms. Raising a brow, I walked towards him while gazing at the jar in puzzlement.

"Here," The long haired ape offered me the jar. "It's the mantis you brought here."

A wide grin appeared on my mouth. "Really! Thanks man, monkey, rockstar!"

"It no big deal. We eat this stuff daily so it wasn't much of a bother." I took the jar with with a smile and jumped on the ship where I was greeted by a rather enthusiastic Chopper.

"Is that it?"

"Yup!" I smiled and crouched down in his eye level. "Hey, can you do me a favor?"

Chopper was a bit hesitant when I asked that, but quickly nodded with vigor. "Hai!" What he forgot to notice was my malicious grin once I whispered to his ear.

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><p>We took out the anchor and sailed towards where a whirlpool was supposed to be located. After a good dozens of minutes, we were under the blackened clouds and above the raging sea. The others seemed to have problem getting a grip on the ship so as to not fall overboard, but not me.<p>

The benefits of chakra shines upon me once again.

I heard lots of crying around me. Mostly from the two scardy-cats on board who kept clinging on the fixed mast. It wasn't like we'll die now, no, we'll die _after_ we achieved our dreams

I casually walked near Merry's chicken head and sighed. Though, that was a short-lived sigh when I noticed how huge the whirlpool was. It would put Santiago Bernabeu swell in shame and was getting larger and larger by the second.

"He never said we had to go INTO it!" Nami shrieked next to my ear. The girls been way too clingy these days. Not that I'll ever admit to her, it was sorta cute.

Sanji shouted something about ``Shitty ninja, leave Nami-san alone´´ which was closely followed by Robin's fearfilled gaze at the swirling mass of water.

What I found extremely endearing was Whiskers emerging from the water a good distance away from us. And to make thing more sappy as it is – no pun intended – was that I could understand my little turtle.

_"MOOOOM!"_

I was frozen solid there – again – this time with tears running down my eyes as I waved at it. The amount of pride I felt was painfully welcoming.

"Whiskers! Mommy's gonna go to Sky Island! Be a good girl and stay close! We will definitely meet again!" Whiskers let out a sad moan and as quickly as she came, submerged back with tears running down her face. "Why is it that I always have to leave my children alone to this cold, hate-filled world? Why!"

"Will you please cut that out!" Daxter yelled at me. "You've been abopting animals like those two celebrities!"

"But I love them." I pouted despite the situation we were.

"YOSH! LET'S GO TO SKY ISLAND! HAHAHAHAHA!" After Luffy announced that. A giant, dead Sea King emerged with bite marks on it.

"Those look like a turtles bite marks." Robin said and gave another amused glance at me. "Your children must really love you."

I nodded, totally agreeing with her input about my babies. "It took some time, effort and lots of bodies. But we eventually managed to feel the love in the air and put aside our differences as human and animal."

A giggle escaped her throat and I kinda felt good about myself hearing that. Don't know why I felt like that, but Jesus, if she starting warming up to me then I'm pretty sure Hell's been frozen over by now. Not that I want to visit Hell. Ever. I always thought that people were underestimating Hell. No one's ever been there and come back to tell us.

_"I want to visit Hell. I bet there's balloons, strippers and champanges for everyone. NOT GIANT WHIRLPOOL OF DOOM!"_

"We gotta pull out, Luffy! We can still make it!" Usopp paniced and turned to me. "Ezekiel! Please smash Luffy some sense. I don't want to die!"

I shook my head at him. "No can do!" I then pointed at our Captain with a grin. "Even Heaven itself can't stop this man's ambition!"

"This whirlpool is enough to kill us all! Sky Island's just a dream within a dream!"

"I'm sorry, but I don't remember this scene to be on inception!" I retrieved a dice from my pocket and threw it on the deck. I saw it bounced two times 'till it showed me the number 5. "See, if we were in a dream within a dream, then I'd never be able to get the answer."

"Oh boy, not this again." Daxter facepalmed. Good thing he whispered at me though, otherwise people here would've asked me questions. Lots of questions.

"An island from a dream withing a dream? I could never pass up a great adventure like this!" Luffy cheered as we made our usual high-five. During that time, there was a lot of screams around the Merry. That is until the whirlpool suddenly vanished in thin air.

And yes, I know how horrible that just sounded.

"What? Is it gone?" Chopper inquired.

"Nah, it's just getting ready to blast our asses sky-high." I tried to ease him up, but instead got the reindeer in a frenzie of panic attacks.

"HOLD IT!" A new voice yelled at us. I was of course startled by it by how familiar it sounded. Not one to postpone my curiousity. I gazed at the direction and saw a raft ship made up of gigantic trees wound up together with ropes. Around the sides of the raft were gunports and a large mast posted in the middle with their flag consisting of three skulls and six bones.

"Oi Zoro, Ezekiel." Luffy said and pointed at the raft. "Look."

"Are those..." Zoro trailed off, but decided to just watch.

"What do they want?" I scratched my head. What bugged me was that I still couldn't remember the guys name. "He looks familiar."

"Isn't that the guy you shared a pie?" Nami deadpanned at me.

"No, it just occured to me that I know the fat-ass _before_ I met him."

"Straw Hat Luffy! I've come for your 100,000,000 beli head! Give yourself up!" The Pie-man shouted at us.

"Whaddya mean, 100,000,000?" Luffy asked him.

"So you really didn't know." He chuckled and showed two wanted poster of us. In his left hand he showed us Luffy's raised bounty while the other had Zoro's. "Your head's got a 100,000,000 bounty on it! And Pirate Hunter Zoro! You're worth 60,000,000!"

I pouted at him. "Oi, where's mine!"

The Pie-man grinned and looked at the man with the huge-ass rifle. "Van Augur!"

The man named Van Augur showed mine wanted poster which made me grin a victorius grin. "Wohoo! 85,000,000 million! Better watch out Luffy! I'm right up your ass!"

"Shishishishishi!" Luffy laughed his distinct laughter in amusement. "We'll see about that!"

"I'm a little disappointed at 60,000,000!" Zoro laughed, which freaked me out here.

"From 69,000,000 to 325,000,000 beli! Not bad for a group of random rookie pirates!"

"We need to party once we get in Sky Island!" Luffy cheered.

"YOU THREE! QUIT ENJOYING THIS!" Nami yelled at us.

Suddenly the water started to rise and kept rising 'till we were about six stories high. It was an amazing sight, something I was intent to draw once we were up there. Like many other things.

"Hey! I can see Cricket from here!" My cheers when to deaf ears as Usopp began to command us around.

"Everyone brace yourselves on the ship or get into the cabin! THE SEA'S GONNA EXPLODE" The pirates shouted around and tried to find a safe place on the ship to cling onto.

I just shrugged at them. No need to excert myself that much. I do have the perfect balance, with a little help that is.

"Maybe we should've made a sacrifice for Poseidon before we began doing stupid things like this." I suggested but didn't get a answer since I could practically taste the potential energy beneat us. "Uh, nevermind."

**BOOOOM!**

"Oh my God! This beats every waterpark I've ever been to!" I shouted while being stuck on the deck with chakra.

The feeling when you disprove Newton's law of universal gravitation is absolutely amazing. And coupled with the fact that there's enough G-force here to turn us and this ship into paste is just hilariously frightening.

"This is awesome!" Luffy exclaimed from his favorite spot. It was amazing to see him stuck to it like a glue.

"HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT!" Usopp and Nami shrieked in fear. The only ones who had a blast were me, Luffy and Chopper whom I promised to hold on during this ride. The reindeer instantly felt better and was now clinging to my head with the other animal.

"Is this all you've got Poseidon! This ain't nothing, nothing I say!"

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><p><strong>[To Be Continued]<strong>

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><p>As promised a short yet somewhat crazy chapter.<p>

About Ezekiel's high bounty... that will be explained later so bear with me. And before I forget... there should be a new chapter right around the corner.

Rate and review!


	49. Have I Ever?

**Chapter 49: Have I Ever?**

_Kenegi_**: He's not falling behind. It is customary for the Captain to have a highest bounty on his ship.**

_xxOMGgalxx_**: Hope this is soon enough.**

_The Prophet Of Lies_**: You can choose your family, but you can't choose you friends... or was it the other way around?**

_KuroHi91_**: I don't always make a meme references, but when I do, it's to show that I spend too much time on the internet.**

**Disclaimer: Stop seaching for the truth and lie down for some good fantasy.**

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><p>After lots of turmoils, cries and cheers. We finally made it to the clouds. Me and Chopper took everything in and looked to see that we were the only ones who were somewhat conscious. I instantly went to see how my student was – teachers responsibility – and the first thing I noticed was that her shirt was soaked. I looked at myself and was surprised to see few wet blotches.<p>

_"I'm starting to doubt my teachers mastery over rational physics." _I scowled and took off my green shirt. It was the same she previously wore back in the Ninja Island. Only difference is that I wash it regularly and train without a shirt most of the time. That or just walk around half-naked 'till I get shouted by a flushed Nami.

"What are you doing?" Chopper asked after he and Daxter shrugged their furs dry. Wish I had that.

"Just... loaning my shirt to our brave navigator." I smiled once I saw Nami open her eyes.

"Pft, yeah right. You just want to see-!" Daxter's little speech was succesfully stopped by an angry Nami who – much to my fear – _gently_ took my shirt with a sweet smile.

"Thank you."

A small blush crept on my face which I tried to hide from her. "Don't mention it. I don't want to see you get sick is all."

"Your using that excuse way to much." Nami said with a tint of humor in her voice.

"Because its true," I glared back at Nami and poked her nose. "Your like a magnet to fatal illness."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

Thankfully Luffy broke our short-lived bickering by shouted,. "Oi, everyone take a look! Look around the ship!"

Sure enough, there was the same cloud ocean I saw with Chopper few minutes ago. A smile formed in my lips from watching the pirates looking at it. Sure, it was white and fluffy around here. Which made me wonder about something...

"I wonder if these are the cotton candies I've been hearing a lot..."

"Oooh! I wanna taste one!" Luffy shouted and stretched his arm to grab a fluff of cloud. At first I scoffed at him, but quickly gaped at him for actually holding a mass aerosol in his hands.

"How the hell did you do that?" The rubberman gave me a look which was funny as hell. He looked like a giant human-squirrel with the puffed cheeks. "Nevermind, I should've know better."

"Oh no! Usopp's not breathing!" Chopper all but yelled. Luffy and I went to see what happened and spotted a decent sized bumb on his head.

"WHAT! Then do something? Try CPR!" Luffy frantically shouted.

"Yosh! I'll give Nami-san CPR!" Our lovecook proclaimed behind us.

"Sure~ just a word of warning though, her mouth tastes like an old, bitter wine." I chuckled, closely followed by Zoro saying that it suits the witch. Sure I had to dodge fists aimed at my head, but seeing her all red and embarassed was totally worth the tease.

Few minutes later, we got Usopp to wake up, panic and relax. All in that order. It really amazes me sometimes about the guys 'boldness' of doing stupid things. Like this one:

"For his first course Captain Usopp is going for a swim!"

I was also amazed by the two animals and rubberman cheering at him. Not one to miss out of the fun, I leaned forward on the rail and began to observe the _sea of the sky _for later drawings.

"Oi, oi, oi! Don't do anything stupid." Sanji warned the sharpshooter after his argument with Zoro. "We still don't know the nature of this sea."

**SPLASH!**

It seems that Sanji's warning went to deaf ears if the short 'splashing' sound gave anything off.

"Coooool!"

"He's so brave!"

"He's so dead."

I shook my head at the two optimist and one pessimist – not accounting myself – and jumped on top of the sea of clouds. It felt weird to walking on it. _"Maybe its because the resistance is smaller than that of blue seas."_

"You two are so lucky." Luffy groaned. "I wish I could swim... or water walk." He then perked up and stared at me with starry eyes. "Hey! Could you teach us!"

I deadpanned at him. "I told you that your chakra core's already hardened. Unless you can turn into an 8-year-old, then sorry."

"Why do you need a kid to teach that?"

"Because their core's not made out of cement."

"Then how did you learn it?" Chopper inquired.

I scratched my head at that. "Uhm... my late master forced me to do those chakra training when I was eight. With it, he began to teach me martial arts and other things." Though, I am still skeptical about all of this. How did the old man know that I'll need that stuff here and now? He did smile everytime I did those exercises.

Was it fate or did he know there will be a day – like today – that I'll have a use for it. The old senile still remains a mystery, even after his death.

"He's... not coming up." Zoro stated as I looked beneath me. Its already been about 10 minutes since we lost Usopp.

"Just a thought," Robin began with a small sweat running down her face. "Is there a bottom to this sea?"

"Of course not." I said with arms crossed over my bare chest. "My guess is that this... cloud of sea's about 100 meters deep, so... remove the density level of the water and increase Usopp's stupidity..."

"He's dead isn't he?" Daxter facepalmed.

* * *

><p>It was a close call, but Luffy and Robin finally got the near dead Usopp out. I shook my head at his way of dying. I mean really, this is the number one most hazardous things that usually happens in my world. Some drunk college monkeys start to go nuts and drown themselves in a nearby lake or pool. Call me a pessimist or anything you want. But I think that the second I start to get drunk, something bad happens to me.<p>

Once the guy was pulled out, there were two monsters – one octopus and a flatfish – that attacked us. I was about to do something when Zoro and Sanji beat me to it. Sighing, I noticed that after the little work-out, the guys – including Luffy – were panting hard.

_"Oh yeah, were about 7,000 meters above the ground so there's not that much oxygen here as we're used to."_ I thought and added chakra to my lungs to breath calmly. I scowled when I noticed that it didn't work the way I wanted.

_"Need help?" _A feminine voice resounded in my head. I looked around and spotted that I had my hand on Yama's hilt. Probably because I was about to use her to slash the monsters away.

_"Please?" _I asked with a mental puppy dog-expression I picked up from Luffy and Chopper. So far it only worked on Yama. Hopefully it'll work on Nami once she gets past those violent tendencies of hers.

That or it seems that I lack something cute in me.

Sure enough, my breathing calmed down and fully stood up. "Ah, the laws of science be a harsh mistress." I sighed and stretched my muscles.

Looking at the others, they weren't as lucky as me to have a sweet, sentient katana. "Man... this place... sure takes the breath out of you." I heard Zoro pant.

"Now, this is a weird-looking animal." Luffy said and the rest was ignored by me since they began to talk about the animals popping up like balloons.

I saw Chopper looking through binoculars he retrieved from somewhere and smiled.

"Oi, guys! A ship! And a person?"

"Really?" I inquired and activated the Sharingans. Not that I can see that far, but it lets me spot dozens chakra signatures and one higher a good distance away from us. The little reindeer went pale once the little chakras just vanished into thin air. "That's odd..."

"Oi, What's wrong" Zoro asked us.

"There's a ship! No! I mean, there _was_, but the ship's gone now! And now there's a bull charging right at us on a square cloud!" A paniced Chopper yelled and tried to explain to us what happened.

"The hell..." Sanji and me looked at a human skating towards us. The odd thing about it was that he or she wore a huge bullmask on their face.

"You know the guy?" Luffy asked me with starry eyes.

A tick mark appeared on my head. "No, do you expect me to know everyone who can walk on water?"

"Yes." Luffy answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oi, someone's coming!" Sanji warned us. "What do you want?"

"I shall reject you!" The bullmasked man yelled. Or so I thought it was a man by its voice.

"The feeling mutual!" I grinned and took out my last fuuma shuriken from my seal tag. The guy quickly dispatched Sanji with a fierce kick that sent him slamming into storage rooms wall. Next was Zoro who was too slow and was also sent crashing to the mast. The masked man then jumped high up and kicked Luffys head on the deck. What surprised me was that the rubber man was bleeding from the area. _"I thought blunt force attacks doesn't work on him... that means..." _

My train of thought was cut by the bullman charging at me. I was really lucky I had my Sharingans still on at that time. Otherwise the kick I just blocked with the flat side of the giant shuriken would've been my shattered ribs. I quickly reared my left leg back and charged it forward, intent on crushing the guys mask into dust. I wasn't that lucky since the man ducked under my attack and made another kick at me. This was kinda like our spar with Sanji.

This time I decided to grab his leg by the calf and swiftly threw him out of the ship. The bullmasked man righted himself in our rail and jumped high up in the air. My eyes widened when I saw he was about to shoot the huge bazooka at us. I was about to intercept it with a random ninjutsu, but was interrupted by an elderly mans voice.

"That's enough!" I managed to get a glimps of an old man in a knight outfit riding a weird-looking bird. The old man was about to pierce the masked man with his lance, but was blocked with the orange shield he had on his back. After that, the bazooka man pummeled into the water and skied off.

"Oh no you don't!" I gritted my teeth and unfolded the giant shuriken with a swift hand motion. I was just about to throw the thing at him had not these pesky arms not sprouted around me.

"There's no need to do that, Shinobi-san." Robin said with a calm tone that hid the fear behind it. She was still a mystery to me. I'm not really someone to be afraid of. Well, sometimes yes, but were somewhat cool with each other here now.

But I still don't trust her.

I gave the woman a glare and sighed. Sure enough, she let go of the restrains, but I decided to hold on to the shuriken incase the old man tries something. "Whatever." I then walked towards our knight in shiny, rusty armor with a smile. "Yo, thanks for the help. I guess chivalry isn't dead after all."

"I am the Knight of the Sky." He annouced with the weird bird shouting behind him.

I couldn't take it anymore and landed flat on the deck and panted my ass off. I felt my lungs were on fire and as dry as a 10-year-old rag.

"What's going on here? Just who was that?" Nami shot questions after question 'till her eyes narrowed at the three musketeers. "And what's wrong with you guys? That was pathetic! All three of you together couldn't handle him!" She then helped me up, which kinda put me off guard again. "At least one of you knows how to put up a fight, jeez."

"I'll take that as a compliment." I chuckled and fully stood up.

"There's no need for thanks, Shinobi-san." The armor-man said. My eyebrow twitched from the nickname he obviously heard from the giggling Robin. I'm not even from a village for God's sake. "This is just a service."

Sanji, Luffy and Zoro were all panting heavily on the deck. "Man, I'm disappointed." I heard Sanji grumble. Not that I blame any of them. None of them has a wind-sentient katana to help them breath 7,000 metres above the surface.

"My body, I can barely move it at all." A panting Luffy... panted.

"It must be because the air's so thin." Robin explained, not that I wanted to know because I already knew that.

"I see..." grunted Zoro finally breathing regularly.

"Yeah, now that I think about it... are you all Blue Sea Dwellers?" The old man asked as he walked up to the second level of the ship.

Nami frowned at that, "Blue Sea Dwellers?"

The old knight nodded, "Yes, it is the term used to describe those that live beneath the clouds."

"Sounds a bit racist to me." I scowled and felt a light weight on my head.

"Everything sounds racist to you." Daxter said from my head. "But dude, those were some cool moves!" As usual, the ottsel likes to grin at me for a job well done.

A small smile graced my lips, "Everything looks cool to you." We both shared a short laugh while the Knight started to explain something untrivial about the White Sea. And that above this sea is the White-White sea 3,000 meters above us.

"Its no surprise your bodies cannot handle the change of atmosphere." The knight looked at me warily, as if I was a tough riddle or puzzle that need to be solved. That look unnerves me since its what Robin usually does in the ship. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she's hitting on me.

"Something on my face?" I asked the Knight with narrowed eyes.

"No," He answered in a light monotone voice. "It's nothing."

"Yosh, I think I'm getting used to this now." I heard Luffy cheer and pound his chest. After him, Zoro and Sanji also stood up with a bit of support from the ships rail.

"No, no, no, no, no, that's not possible." The old man sweat dropped with a disbelief gaze on us.

"Oi, how come your not affected by this?" Sanji sent a death glare at me which I returned, albeit a lighter one.

"I happen to adapt well to my environment." I lied and gently patted my katana. "I think I was a mouse in my previous life."

"I have to know! How was that guy running on top of the clouds?" Nami asked as I gave her the same disbelief look the old man just made few seconds ago.

"You just saw me walking on top of that stuff." I saw Nami blushed in embarassement and decided not to humiliate her today. "Anyways, I think those skates might have something to do with it."

"Skates?" Luffy asked as Chopper was tending the wound on his head.

I facepalmed at him. "Please don't tell me that no one bothered to catch some odd details from our assailant?"

"What do you mean 'odd details'" Zoro asked as he rubbed the small, red spot on his forehead.

"*sigh* Those kicks of his were fast AND strong." Here I showed him my fuuma shuriken with the added cracks on it. "I had to reinforce this baby so it wouldn't break in half. My guess is that his skates boosted the power on his kicks. I'm surprised you guys are conscious after those hits." I turned to the old man still staring at me. "Unless the people here are some kind of mutatans or evolved humans with evolved contractile tissue."

"I yield, I yield. I can see you all have many quesions for me, but first we must talk of business. I am – afterall – a mercenary. And this is a sea of many dangers. Since you know not the battle of the sky, you will be easy targets for the guerillas or the Skyfish."

"So what, I'll just use them as target practice."

The old knight ignored me and pulled out an odd whistle. "Use this whistle and I will rescue you for a price of 5,000,000 extols."

"What are you talking about, Ossan?" Luffy asked with his head tilted to the side.

"It is a small price to pay, really!" He frantically waved at us. "I will not take one extol less! I have to make a living, you know."

"But what's this extol thing you keep talking about?" Sanji inquired.

The knight was surprised, "You mean you did not come by way of the High West? But you must have at least stopped by one or two islands."

"C'mon, what're you talking about, Ossan?"

"Luffy, cut the old man some slack. He's obviously gone senile."

"Senile?" The Captain blinked at me. "Can you eat that?"

"You can try." I shrugged.

"Hold on!" Nami suddenly shouted. "You mean there are other ways to get to this sky sea? And one or two islands? You mean there's more than one Sky Island?"

"You mean that you-" The knight was interrupted by Robin saying that we rode the Knock-Up Stream here. "Riding that monstrous current? To think there are still souls brave enough to dare to do that."

"That's just a fracture of how bad-ass we are!" I cheered with Luffy.

"I knew it wasn't a normal route!" Nami cried and began to break our party time apart by yelling at Luffy. "I THOUGHT WE WERE GONNA DIE! IF WE'D GATHERED MORE INFORMATION WE WOULD'VE HAD AN EASIER TRIP!"

"That's Luffy alright. Once he makes a decision, we have no choice but to stay the course with stupid." I chuckled.

"Have you lost any of your crew?" The old man – who's name I still don't remember – asked us.

I raised my brow at him and looked under my pants. "Nope, all there."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT HE MEANT!" The pirates shouted at me with tick marks on their foreheads. The only one who didn't lost its composure was Robin who kept giggling. Something she did a lot today.

Even the old man cracked a small smile. "The other routes would not have been so merciful. If you had brought 100 people, it would be a gamble as to how many would survive. But by using the Knoch-Up Stream, either you all die or you all survive. There are few left willing to risk losing everything. Especially in recent years. I have great respect for your brave and trustworthy navigators."

I grew a bit jealous at that. "Oi, get your own student to compliment on! This ones mine!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He held his hands in a placating manner, but I could tell there was amusement shining in his eyes. "Remember, one whistle means blowing sharply into it. I will descend from Heaven itself to lend you aid. I normally ask 5,000,000 extols for future visits, but I shall give you one whistle as a present."

"Wait! We don't even know your name!" Nami shouted at his back. The old man didn't turn, but instead held the lance high in the air with his bird crying.

"I am the Knight of the Sky, Gan Fall. And this is my partner Pierre." What happened next was both hilarious and bizarre as hell. The bird transformed into a winged horse, Pegasus.

"That's one ugly horse." Daxter commented from my head.

"Brave souls, may luck be with you!"

"Who needs luck when you got these!" I shouted and made some weird poses with my muscles. It got Chopper and Robin into another fits of giggles. And soon enough, the ship was back to its normal pace with Sanji and Zoro arguing, the other three fighting over the whistle and Nami navigating us around.

* * *

><p>"A gate?" Nami asked Luffy and Usopp after their little episode with the bouncing clouds.<p>

"Yeah, there's a huge gate underneath that fall-looking thing." The Captain explained... or tried.

"Seems legit to me, let's go." I grinned as the ship started to twist and turn around the clouds.

"Ezekiel-kun," Nami reprimanded me. "we need to be careful. Gan Fall told us that there are lots of dangerous things in here."

"I don't remember him saying that." I deadpanned at her, but decided to let it go. No need to argue over a spilled milk. Even though said milk was a chocolate milk. "Hey, think we get to see a Sky cows?"

"Sky cow? What's that?" Luffy inquired.

"Well, we have Sea cows and regular cows down there. What would be the chance of meeting a Sky cow? I hope it milks chocolate milk. I've been craving that stuff for God know how long."

"Why do I keep following you?" Daxter groaned from my head. "Your a serious blow to my self-esteem that its not funny anymore."

"Dude, you hang out with us. You don't have a self-esteem."

"Touché. By the way, what did you do back there? Mock Town was it?"

"K&T one, two." I grinned at the memory.

"You tortu-!" I quickly clamped the ottsels mouth shut when the crew started to eavesdrop on us. It was supposed to be our code. K stands for Killed and the other Torture. What I meant was that I disposed of one and tortured two. That happened ever since the Baroque accident in Lisnor which sorta left me depressed for an entire week.

"What did you do?" Zoro asked with narrowed eyes.

"Nothing much, just chillin' and shit." I nerveously laughed, thankfully it was Nami who broke the staring contents between me and the swordsman. Otherwise it would've looked kinda gay.

"Guys! We made it through!" Nami informed us. The crew ran to the front deck to see a huge gate that resembled a sun. There was also a huge banner saying; Heaven's Gate.

"Heaven's gate? Am I dead?" I pinched my cheeks with both hands. "I don't fell dead. If this is what its like to be dead then being dead sucks!"

"Huh? We're dead!" Chopper looked at me with those shark-like teeth and wide eyes anime-characters do whenever their shocked or angry.

"Well, that would certainly account for all the weird stuff here." Sanji lighted his cigarette with Luffy screaming in the background.

"I don't see _my_ 72 virgins..." I grumbled with my arms crossed.

"The hell? Where did you get that idea?" Usopp gave me a glance to see if I'm okay. Not that I minded the bromance here and now, but he was literally invading my personal space. So to correct that, I flickered his forehead and chuckled seeing him fall down on the deck.

"I wonder if we get a tour to Hell. There's bound to be funtime there."

"Why do you want to go to Hell?" Robin inquired, smiling as she took a spot near the ships rail I lounged.

"Have a tea party with Lucifer, swim in the River Styx with Hades and roast marshmallow in the lowest level of Dante's Inferno while singing Rick Astley's hits." I sarcatically remarked. "Maybe I'll get whipped with a flail by Osiris by the end of the day."

"Look over there! Someone's coming out!" Sanji pointed forward to one of the doors where an elderly lady was taking pictures of us. I jumped on the rail and made another patch of ridiculous poses for her to take while tensing my muscles.

Just so you know, I was still shirtless.

"The life of a supermodel is hard." I grinned and waved at the woman. "Take all you want! There's more where these come from!"

"Look! On her back!" Chopper pointed at the old woman. "W-Wings!"

I looked closer at her and lo and behold. There was a pair of short, white wings on her back.

"An angel!" Luffy gaped at her. "So that's a real angel? She looks like a prune!"

"Oi! Obaachan, are you my virgin?"

**BAM!**

"Stop. Asking. Stupid. Questions! You damned nutbar!" Nami gritted her teeth. I could only scowl at her. Seems like she increased her training time, a lot.

"You should give more respect to your handsome sensei." I grumbled and this time dodged he fist. "Well, I can understand how people can't get enough of me, but, it's for their own good really."

"I am the appointed lookout of Heaven's Gate, Amazon." The old lady Amazon introduced herself.

"Hi! My name's Vane, Ezekiel Vane. I like long walks on the beach and eating puddings while walking long walks on the beach. My horoscope's pisces. I dislike scorpions, magnets and people who disapprove the mechanics of quantum psychics. Not that it'll happen, but you can never be too sure about that."

"What are you doing?" Nami asked with a rapidly increading tick mark on her head.

I tilted my head to the side in confusion. "I thought this was somekind of interview. And being the devoted supermodel that I am. I have to give information about my status to my fans."

"Why do I bother?" She exaggerately sighed in defeat.

"Are you here for sightseeing or fighting?" Amazon asked.

"S-Sightseeing would be closer, I guess..."

Luffy perked up at that, "We wanna go to Sky Island! Sky Island's on the other side of this gate, right?"

"What do you mean, fighting?" A rather enthusiastic Zoro asked with a grin.

"It doesn't matter which you choose. Just pay the immigration fee, 1,000,000,000 per person, and be on your way. That's the law."

"1-1,000,000,000!" Usopp shrieked and took several steps back in fear.

"There's that extol thing again." Sanji said with a sigh, seemingly not caring about all of this.

"No matter what it is, 1,000,000,000's gotta be a lot!" Our doctor voice out.

"Does it help that we blackmail the old fossil for the picture she took?"

"How is that going to help us?" Luffy asked me.

"I could always sue her wrinkly old ass. No one takes pictures of me and shows it around to people who might take advantage of my vulnerability." I shivered at the fact that some old women start drooling after me. "I can't let that happen. I have to preserve my image."

"Whatever," Usopp shook his head. "Why does it cost that much to enter? That old granny must have her wires crossed-!" His mouth was clasped shut by the Greed incarnate Nami.

"Excuse me, but about the money. If by some chance we didn't have enough?"

"But we-!" My words were cut of by our navigators other hand clasping my mouth shut. _"How greedy do you have to be?" _Amazon then told us that we can pass or not and that it was our decision not hers. She said that she's not a guardian nor a warrior. _"No kidding."_

"Yeah! Let's go to Sky Island! We don't have any money, but we're going through, Obaachan!" Luffy shouted, not really caring about the death glare Nami sent at him.

"I see! Nine of you, yes?" Amazon asked and snapped her old fingers with a loud 'snap'. Seconds later, two huge crab pincers grabbed the areas where the Flying Merry's wings and hoisted us up. I heard Amazon mumble something about Speedy Shrimps. The giant crustacean then sped up towards the Milky Road.

"The things fast, I'll give it that much." I nodded while trying to get out of Nami's death grip on my arm. Not that I minded the extra attention, but I really need the blood flowing through it. "Why do I have this feeling that were being screwed by the old woman."

"Your just being paranoid!" Nami yelled to my ear.

"Remember what happened last time I was paranoid?" A silence greeted us when I said that. "Thought as much."

"*sigh* Just... don't get us killed."

"When have I ever?" I feigned mock hurt which got her to giggle.

* * *

><p><strong>[To Be Continued]<strong>

* * *

><p>Woo! Another fast update and we finally broke the 300k mark! Not that I'm on a roll, just extremely bored.<p>

Anyway... leave a review and all that! Otherwise I'll sent Whiskers to your door and force you to write.


	50. Of Clouds and Grenades

**Chapter 50: Of Clouds and Grenades.**

**Note: From this day on, I better reply to the reviews. It was fun the first time.**

**Disclaimer: I have found the truth! And it doesn't make any sense!**

* * *

><p>I shouldn't be amazed really. I've seen this part like... once and that was enough for me. I admit, this is a artistic view, but I wasn't impressed seeing it the second time. Call me a heartless critic, but if I see something and see it again, the whole purpose flees from my mind.<p>

Unless its has something to do with _that_ kind of image. If you know what I mean.

So I left the crew what they wanted to do. Its not like they needed to be babysitted 24/7 – unless that someone is Luffy.

I casually walked towards the treasure chest I found a while back. It was still a mystery, so I better be careful with it. You grow paranoid if you're aware of the hateful glares from people around you.

_"This reminds me of that one prank with the manipulated spring clown box and baby powder. A _lot_ of baby powder. Where the second I open this a surprise pops out."_

"I still don't understand why you won't slash the lock off like you usual do." My sidekick frowned at me. It wasn't like he was impatient, just curiously impatient. Which is a totally different term for precursors like him.

"What if there's nitroglycerin in it?" I asked out of blue... or white, depends on where you are at the moment.

Daxter facepalmed his snout. "If that would be the case, then we ALL would be dead by now. You'd think with all the motion this box-of-wonder's been through, it would've exploded into tiny bits and bats."

"I guess you're right," I sighed and took out Triton. "taking my life – and others – into an animals hands."

"Hey! I take offence to that!"

I ignored the orange animal slumped on my head and slashed the lock clean off. At that moment I lost my small, yet notiable big ego into thin air, because of the fact that the lock was rusted. Which meant that I could've broke that thing off with my bare hands. But I use discretion, your not allowed to do that while treasure hunting. Not that I know anything about hunting treasures.

"What's that?" A voice asked behind me which I guessed belonged to Zoro. Unfortunately for the both of us, Nami barged from the storage room with the Southbird pecking her head. I chuckled at that, it was kinda ironic when you think about it.

My small laughter got the attention of our navigator who set her eyes immediately at my chest. Not that chest, the treasure chest.

"Oh, so you've opened it." The greedy woman smiled. "Where's the gold and jewels?"

I quirked my eye brow at that. Gold? Jewel? What was she on?

"Dude," Daxter called to me while staring at the chest. "don't you think these look a bit familiar?"

My other brow raised, this time in surprise. In the chest, there was six hand-sized, green... "Is that a hand grenade?" I tentatively asked and picked one up. After studying it for good ten seconds, I grinned a wide grin that would've split my head in two. "Oh my God, it is! It's like Easter bunny just visited us! People are gonna crap their pants if I wave this around. They'll do anything I want." I quickly sealed the grenades – which I recognized were fragmentations ones – in my personal dimensional pocket. They were sorta old-fashioned, but still functional if my memory serves me right. "I'm saving these for later. I'm not gonna waste these babies on just anybody!"

Zoro grimaced at the sight of me being giddy. "Am I correct to assume those are _extremely_ dangerous?"

"Zoro," I began if I was lecturing a kid. Which of course made the swordsman growl. "imagine something like... an onigiri exploding in a room. What would that accomplish?"

"A messy room?" Nami deadpanned at me. I nodded at her with a smile.

"Now imagine the rice of the said onigiri as sharp, deadly steel sharpnels that could easily-!" I was about to explain when the ottsel tailwhipped me in the eye.

"Right~ its cool to tell them about ancient artilleries and not modern chemical warfare." He let out a slight animalistic growl. "I can see why never made friends."

I ignored the jab from the orange thing. "Who needs friends when I have Mk-2 grenades. They're probably registered in someone elses name, so I can blow this place down and get away with it if I want to."

Sure I was given a few wary glances when I said that, but saw that they shrug it off. People tend to do that around me. It's no big deal, really. I like playing behind the shadow.

I suddenly heard three splashes behind me indicating that the last three ships occupants just left. I sighed and closed the empty chest. These grenades were like a god-sent to me. I forgot to make explosive tags earlier and now that I have something slightly more dangerous than that...

...you get the idea.

* * *

><p>The rest was really boring from my perspective. We met Conis and the weird fox that was constantly hitting on Daxter, either that or it wanted to eat him. That was funny 'till the cloud fox started to purr around me. I didn't know what was with me and animals, but I guessed that it must be because of my looks. Let's face it, not everyone's cut out to be me.<p>

"Su was it?" I picked the grey fox and held it close to my face for a closer inspection. A chuckle escaped my throat when the fox licked my face. I like cute things; babies, animals, baby animals and exploding babies wearing cute animal costums.

Oh, and ponies! Who doesn't love ponies.

"Yes," Conis answered in that calm voice, but I could detect a slight unrest in her. "she seems to like you."

"Yeah, I have that kind of impact on women, be it humans or animals. No one can resist my charm."

Later we heard a weird, motoristic sound coming from a good distance away from us. I looked at the direction and remembered the thing the old man in it was called a Waver. It was like a Jet Ski albeit one made out of wood and dials. I raised my eye brow at the old man driving it. He seemed a bit clumsy on it and if my calculation were – and usually are – right, he was about to crash at me and the fox.

"Oi! Watch out!" He called out to me. A small smile formed in my lips: time to test something new. I knew the old man was riding the Waver about 40mph with my Sharingan and all. So stopping the thing with a chakra induced muscle sounds like a challenge I'm willing to beat.

I quickly set the fox down and saw it scurry away in haste. "Let's see Newton's second law states that the net force on a particle is equal-..."

"Just stop the damn thing!" Daxter shouted at me, probably annoyed that I was reciting something intrivial about Inertia.

"Alright, alright." I sighed and pumped my right arm with the bluish/green chakra. I could feel my muscle tighten which indicated that I was ready. The second the Waved was close to me, I grabbed it by the handle and stopped it. Just like that, I'm that awesom. _"D-rank, borderline C..." _I tried to estimate the amount of chakra I poured in. It wasn't much, but it's something. "You alright, Ossan?"

"I'm fine, thank you sonny." I smiled at the round bearded old man with the typical Skypien hair antennas on his bald head. I found it was hilarious seeing his beard move whenever he was talking. "Are these your friend, Conis-san?"

"Yes, we just met." The mistook angel replied. "They came from the Blue Sea."

"I see. That must have been a difficult journey." The old man, now named Pagaya started to apologize for everything. Including him nearly crashing onto me. He was at least courteus enough to invite us into his house for dinner. Luffy and Sanji seemed particularry enthusiastic about it. I answered him with a shrug meaning that it was fine with me.

**WHROOOOM!**

I looked at the direction from where that came from and sure enough. There was Luffy, riding the Waver like a drunk driver. Conis and her father were worried sick about our Captains health. Us? Not so much.

While the others were mumbling about the waters here and its connection to people with Devil Fruit powers. I took out my hoverboard and glided towards the sinking rubberman.

"Troublesome..." I sighed as I pulled the near unconscious – and round – Luffy with slight difficult. It seems that the hoverboard can't hold onto 2 passangers. Which meant that I had to spam the thing with yet another burst of chakra from my legs. I had to do the same thing to Chopper – who I though jumped after me once he saw I was in danger and tried to save me.

I threw the two Devil Fruit-user on the soft cloud and retracted the hoverboard on its smaller size.

"I'm sorry for asking," Pagaya asked as I sweat dropped at his apolectic side. "but does this one also use Dials?"

I looked at him, then at my board that I attached to the light blue sash I got from Vivi. "Yes and no." Pagaya looked confused, so I explained to him about Globes, pressures. I also explained to him – with the inventor of course – that even though there's no wind here, this thing pressurises the oxygen and other gas related stuff on this atmosphere. Not that the hoverboard needed wind.

We looked to the side and saw Nami riding the Waver like a pro. I smiled at her, as long as she has fun and doesn't get herself – or us for that matter – killed, I'm cool with it.

What can I say? I am a pessimist.

"Ezekiel-kun!" She yelled from the shore. "Come race with me!"

I blinked at her. She wanted a race against me? "Uh, I don't th-"

I was interrupted by the overly cheerful navigator smiling at me. "Don't be such a spoilsport, sensei!" The smile of hers put me a bit of guard. It was genuine yet playful and very much un-Nami-like. Usually she displays a cruel, uncaring side that makes me – and half the crew – smack her head up-side down.

"Just go," Zoro grumbled and turned away from me, probably annoyed at the mushy scene. "have fun or whatever."

I visibly sweat dropped at him. "Gee, thanks for the permission Lord Roronoa." That comment earned me a sword slash that would've nearly eviscerated me. Good thing I knew how to expect those ever since I began to annoy him. "Take a joke, man. You'll never get a date with that kind of attitude." I smiled and expanded the hoverboard once again.

"Hey!" Sanji suddenly yelled. "Why do you get to surf with Nami-san!"

I cocked an eyebrow at him, wondering if he'll also get a date someday with swooning from one woman to another. Sighing, I shook my head to get rid of that thought. Why did I care was beyond me.

"If you have a Waver or some sort of machine to keep up with the Waver, feel free to tag along." I shrugged and jumped up where I quickly set the hoverboard beneath me. I felt really good about it. It doesn't require much chakra beside the small bursts and its helps me improve my chakra control.

"And why can you use that?" A peeved Sanji asked as I kept blinking at him. Why was he so intent on going on a small cruise with her? I'm still questioning my sanity about having to do something with the greedy navigator. Does he feel threatened?

_"Must be some sort of alfa thing..." _I deadpanned at him and decided to answer the ships cook. "Chakra."

"Chakra?" This time Robin asked with that curious glint in her eyes whenever she sees or hears something unnatural.

"It is a moulding between physical and spiritual energy which all living individuals naturally produce to some degree. Some can utilize it some not." I answered and decided that should be enough to sate her curiousity. If not, she can ask the crew.

"What's taking so long?" Nami yelled from and started revving the Waver with a grin. "Don't tell me you're getting cold feet!"

I looked at my orange sidekick who grunted and begrudgingly got off from my shoulder. "Fine, go and spend time with your girlfriend. It doesn't matter anymore."

"She's not my girlfriend..." I was 'this' close to summon my hand grenade and blow the animal into bits.

"Sure..." Daxter rolled his eyes and climbed on Usopp shoulder.

"Okey, okey I go," I grumbled and kicked the cloud to propel myself forward, leaving a small dust of white cloud behind. "What is it you troublesome lady?"

Nami narrowed her eyes at me, but quickly regained her disturbing, large smile. "C'mon! I wanna race ya!"

"What's with the cheery attitude?" I questioned as I got closer to her.

"What attitude?" Nami cutely tilted her head to the side. Its like everytime we're alone, she's a complete different person.

"The second you boarded the Waver, your personality made a complete turn." I narrowed my eyes in thought at her weird moodswings. "You're pregnant aren't you?"

Shock was visible on her face, that is until it quickly changed into anger, then rage. A quick stomp later, she was right behind my ass, literally. And I wouldn't be surprised if she tears it off once she's caught up to me.

* * *

><p>After lots of yelling, I let her won the race just to be on her good side. I've already angered a lot of women in my past and decided that a pause would be in order. Hell hath no fury like a woman annoyed... or was it scorned?<p>

Now back to our dilemma. Here, in front of us, was a huge ass island with its gigantic trees and what not. I remembered this place being called: Upper Yard. And that it was dangerous with its gods, priest and...

"So there's earth on Sky Island too..." Nami mused.

"Yup, not as exotic as Little Garden, but it'll have to do." I grinned and hovered a bit closer.

"How old do you think this island is?" She asked, somewhat intrested in my opinion.

"Four... maybe five hundred years old, I don't know." I answered while looking up at the trees. "The trees are so biiiig. Must be because of the decrease in the atmosphere."

"I'm sure of it!" A random voice yelled from the jungle in front of us. "A treasure is definitely... somewhere around here! It's within our grasp!"

"Treasure?" I gulped and looked at the serious Nami with a look of regret. "I know you want to see that, but maybe it isn't a good idea to go any further."

"Why not? There's somebody there." She blinked at me. "What if they need help?"

I stared at her for a while, not believing that human lives outweighted gold and jewels. "So? Their probably some stray lost in there. I'm sure they're not related to Zoro so no worries."

"We're almost there! Hurry!" The voice frantically shouted this time.

"It came from here." Nami said and drove towards the huge rift of the island next to us. Sighing, I followed her not out of concern, but for my own curiousity. What I saw first was a boat, a bit beat up from the sides, but works better than gramps rusty revolver.

"Coasts clear." I mumbled and hovered closed to the boat. I immediately noticed that it had a huge Breath Dial in it. Which meant that this thing must be faster than the Waver. I boarded the boat first as precaution. Seeing as there wasn't much in it beside a bottle and a backpack. I offered the navigator my hand and helped her aboard.

"Thank you." She smiled and walked towards the rail of the boat. "Claw marks..." I heard her talk. "Were they attacked by something?"

"That or they have a large cat with them." I joked with a chuckle.

"I'm sure of it!" The voice shouted again. Nami flinched and hid behind my back. "A treasure is definitely... somewhere around here!" We both looked at the weird shell dial and the odd green bird sitting on its apex. "An extraordinary treasure is here! It's within our grasp! I can feel it."

"T-The shell talked!" The scardy-cat behind me exclaimed. I shrugged her hands off from my shoulder and picked the thing up. "It's a shell, right?"

"If it looks like a shell, then its a shell." I deadpanned at her short-sighness.

"It's not like there's someone inside it."

I ignored her and decided to press the apex one more time. "Listen, if we keep this journal, it may be valuable later!"

"This shell... can record voices." Nami gasped in surprise.

"N-No! I'm going back! I-I'm scared. I can feel it... God's wrath! What's that sound? It's... God! AAAAAAAHHH!"

"God..." I said, tasting the word with a scowl.

"They were killed..." Nami stated with wide eyes and pale skin. "...By God..." The leaves above us were billowing by the wind. It gave off a eerie feeling to us. Like something bad is about to happen, like in the movies. "W-We should go back. This is creepy. The farther away from here, the better."

**RUMBLE!** **RUMBLE!**

The place we were in shook a bit. After that, we heard a loud male scream coming from the over grown jungle.

"Help me!" The same voice we just heard from the Tone Dial shouted. I wasn't that intrestred to see what was chasing the voice. I quickly grabbed Nami and set her on the Waver. Once she was in, I jumped aboard and commanded her – out of panic – to get us out of here. It wasn't because of the scream of terror, but because I felt someones eyes land on me. Like a predator waiting for the perfect moment to lung at us. It was highly unsettling.

"What is that!" Nami shrieked as she drove us away from the clearing. I kept looking behind us, waiting for the mysterious eyes to attack us. It didn't register to me until later that I noticed Nami stopping the Waver. "W-What's going on? There's something happening in that forest."

Suddenly I felt a present behind me. Turning around, there was the masked bullman aiming his bazooka at us. Or so it looked like from my point of view.

"Duck!" I shouted and shielded my student from the shot...

**BOOM!**

...and the shockwave.

I kept glaring at the man who attacked us twice this day, but quickly changed my stare at the survival of the bazooka onslaugh. He looked like he's seen better days with blood and dirt all over him. The man slumped on the cliff and stared at us for a seconds.

"Oi! Help me! Let me on!" The man held his hand to us. Not that I can reach him, but took that as some sort of sign for us.

"But..." Nami stammered a bit and looked at me. "It's already full..."

"I came from another Sky Island seeking treasure! But that doesn't matter anymore! I'm begging you!"

Nami looked like she was in panic and looked for a extra place in the Waver. What she didn't notice was the Killer Intent sent to us by the red-haired man. I gently grabbed Nami by the shoulder and set her behind me.

"Rule number one, Nami-chan," I said while keeping my eyes glaring at him. "Never trust a desperate man."

"What?" She asked, completely confused.

"I-I'm getting on even if I have to kill you!" The stranger shouted and unsheated his dagger. That is until he looked further and froze in fear. "A guerilla!"

I didn't know what happened. The red-haired man was about to attack us, but stopped and gazed up at the light particles raining on him. He dropped the dagger, as if he has given up on his life and prayed to a God.

"Shit!" My eyes widened when I remembered who's abilities that belonged to, but was too late as the giant pillar of azure light came down upon him. Like a God judging a sinful man.

**BOOOOOOOM!**

Another of those shockwaves reached us, this time it was hundred times more dangerous than the measly bazooka. I could see that it vaporized small part of the island into ash. I saw the giant pillar move towards the bullman as me and Nami tried to set the Waver straight and not collide on the rocks.

After that little scheme, I drove the thing and hid us from the view of those priest. They began to belittle the poor guy who just died. I gulped when they started to talk about nine Blue Sea dwellers entering here.

"I th-!" I clasped Nami's mouth shut. It wasn't like I was afraid of those priest or Enel. No, it was that I shouldn't be affecting the storyline by getting involved as much as I already have.

That or I was just too tired to do anything about it.

I turned the Waver and get us the hell out of there. "God eh?" I smiled a bit, this is getting more and more intresting by the second. "Hopefully not one of those Six Path lunatics."

"We have to hurry back and tell the others! This place is dangerous!" Nami shouted to my ear. I looked down and saw her arms were wrapped around my torso. It brought memories of Angel scratching my skin everytime I did something stupid.

"On it!" I fake saluted and steered the Waver towards Angel Island. "So yeah, we let a man die and heard that were being hunted. Not my kind of welcoming party, but who am I to judge how people welcome their tourist."

Nami gave a light punch to my back and wrapped her arm around my neck where she leaned her head on my shoulder. I was startled of course and nearly lost my balance, but luckily held on to it. My cool would've been reduced to zero. We don't need that.

"Hey," Nami suddenly said after a minute of silence. "how come you know how to drive this?"

"We-e-eell..." I drawled out with a small sweat running down my forehead. "I guess I'm a natural talent too." I nerveously chuckled at her. _"I copied this little trick from you."_

"What do you think happened there?" She asked after another minute of silence.

I thought about her answer. Sure, I could tell them about Enel, but that would be telling. _"I better do what I've been doing so far: go with the flow." _I thought and came up with an answer for her. "Probably a guy with a powerful Devil Fruit powers."

"You think or you know?" I could feel her deadpan at me. Obviously thinking that I have a few lose screws in my head.

"Call it a sixth sense without the ghost and confusions." I chuckled and put the purple visor I stole from Sarquiss on.

"Those guys back there knew we'd arrived at Sky Island!" Nami shouted at my ear, again. "Something might've happened to Luffy and the others!"

"Oh, please." I lightly scoffed at that. "Something's _bound_ to happen to them by now. I'm sure of it."

"How can you say that!"

"One does not simply avoid trouble." I grinned and upped the speed. Much to Nami's fear as she nearly choked me to death. Good thing I know how to negotiate, otherwise there would be one Straw Hat less. After driving for a while, we saw the shore of Angel Island and with it a bunch of guys in weird costumes I identified as the White Berets. "Case in point."

She just ignored me and looked towards the shore in worry. "Please don't do anything stupid, guys!"

"Please do something stupid, guys!" I shouted while ignoring Nami's glare.

"Luffy, don't make those guys mad!"

"Luffy, make those guys mad!"

Nami had enough and gave a short slap to the back of my head. "I'm serious!"

"No your not! Sirius is dead!" I shouted back at her.

"Nami! Ezekiel! Use your money to pay the 9,000,000 beli illegal entrance fee!" I heard Usopp shout at us.

"That's great! So this can be settled if we pay a fine!" Nami yelled back, a bit too cheery for my taste as I felt the Killing Intent rising from her. "9,000,000 beli..." She leaned closer to my ear and whispered something that made me grin.

"With pleasure, ma'am!" I sped the Waver to its max speed towards the closest White Beret and rammed it into his head.

"THAT'S TOO DAMN EXPENSIVE!" We both yelled at the same time. I was actually excited. The Waver can get up to 75mph so of course I was excited to drive something this fast! Back home I would've been arrested driving this fast.

**KA-POW!** **CRASH!**

The White Beret crashed on to the nearby terrace wall with a sickening crunch. I knew the guy was alive so I wasn't worried. "And that's why you should never drink and drive!"

"Oh no!" Nami yelled, like she was awoken by some sort of trance. "In my anger over that ridiculous sum of money, we accidentally..."

"Oi, it was you who told me to ram this thing on his head." I shouted at her and dragged the Waver towards Pagaya. "Oji-chan! Thanks for the Waver. I can't remember the last time I had this much fun!"

"No, it was nothing. I'm sorry." Pagaya, for some reason, apologized to us with a humble bow. "More importantly, you are in quite a predicament!"

"Ha!" I grinned and pointed an accusing finger at Nami. "Told ya so!"

"Hmph," Nami huffed at me, not wanting to admit that I was right.

"Awesome dude!" Daxter climbed on my shoulder with his ever present grin. "How much?"

"Let's see..." I thought to myself for a while. "That would be about 12868N right on his ugly mutt. I'm not sure, the Waver's much lighter than the Ski jet"

"Ouch," Daxter winced and looked at the gathered White Berets. "hate to be him."

I gazed my head at Nami telling everyone about everything we saw. I just kept laughing that I caused someone a permanent migrane. These guys here are much more durable than the 'humans' back home. They step on a banana peel and that's it.

"Why did you do that!" Usopp shrieked and waved his hands like a headless chicked trying to fly.

"For the lols, I guess." I picked my ear to get rid of the ringing noise. "Its not like I commited a crime, right?"

I heard Zoro sigh after Usopps banters about something I didn't care. "What kind of crime did those two commited just now?"

"Most likely obstruction of a public servant, a Class-5 crime." Pagaya explained.

"Good. It's still only a Class-5." Usopp sighed, wiping a small trail of sweat from his forehead.

"It's not good!" Conis suddenly shouted. I of course ignored her saying something about cloud-drifting with God Enel. Mostly because I sat down cross-legged and played with the cloud fox. It was just so cute you could pinch her little head off.

"Who's the cutest fox in the whole wide world?" I baby talked the animal to the death. I mean seriously, babies and cute animals are my weakest spot ever since I became a mother. But you have to give me some props. Being a single mom is hard work. Even though this mom's a pirate and hardly keeps up with the development of her kins.

"HEY, YOU PUNKS!" The White Berets yelled at us. "Do you have any idea what you've done to the Captain!"

"Please don't get so upset." Nami tried to pacified them with that sweet talk she usually does to those she's about to rip off. "My friend here is a bit... short handed..."

"Hey!" I shouted and stood up with the fox while glaring at Nami. "You just told me to inflict pain to someone in the name of Jashin-sama!"

"I did not!"

"See! He admits that you harmed the Captain with ill intention!"

"No, no, no!" Nami palmed her hands with a nerveous giggle. "What he meant was that it was all just an accicent. See, he comes from a place where people greet each other like that."

Several people plus animal sweat dropped at the way Nami put the excuse. "Correction; my people usually greet others with a friendly hug. Not crash into another bystander unless you're as drunk as Zoro on friday morning."

"Shut up!"

"Make me!"

"Just ignore them," Nami glared at the two of us. "Just as I said, it was all an accident. You see, it's so difficult to maneuver a Waver, isn't it? And today was our first time riding one. The handling is so sensitive. How clumsy of him. Beginners should definitely keep away from such dufficult things. They should, shouldn't they?"

"You just commented how great I was!" I pouted. "You even said that-!"

"Oi, Ezekiel!" Usopp wrapped his arm around my neck and pulled me back while whispering to my ear. "Nami's got things under control with this accident story, so keep your mouth shut!"

"Oh, that Ezekiel-kun! Something like that can't possibly be true!"

"Objection!" I shouted in my rare moment of seriousness and judo-threw the liar off from me.

"What did you want to object to?" One of the Berets inquires while glaring at me.

I thought about it for a minute until I rubbed the back of my head with a sheepish grin. "Sorry, I always wanted to say that." Several face faults later, Pagaya talked with the second-in-command and suggested that they treat their Captain in his house. _"At least the got them off our back."_

"The nine of you stay there and don't move! UNDERSTAND!"

"Yes sir yes!" I fake saluted at them and laughed when they began to crawl off. "Damn perverts crawling around like they own the place."

"So they _are_ perverts." Chopper nodded to himself, as if he just discovered something worthwhile noticing.

"I know that you are not bad people." Conis said and turned at towards us with a serious expression. "So please, hurry back home!" That said, she and the cloud fox ran away from us.

"We should listen to her!" Nami exclaimed and gave us the same serious face as Conis just did. "We saw it with our own eyes! An island filled with terrifying people!"

Usopp and Chopper flinched at that. "So you guys did go to that forbidden holy place." Zoro nodded and looked at me. "Was it really that dangerous?"

"Meh," I shrugged. "Weird sounds, people killing other people and mysterious light particles falling from the sky and killing even more people. I say the place sounds like fun."

"R-Really!" Chopper shouted in absolute fear.

"I'm sure there's a place where everythings in harmony with its own little pool and candies and marshmallows." I chuckled at him and laughed once I saw Luffy's starry eyes that held so much glitter in it that would make a kindergarten girl cry in jealousy.

"The place we must never, ever set foot? Terrifying people?" Luffy obviously forgot about the part where people die and focused on the more... happier... thoughts.

"I'm not sure if they're Gods or guerrilas, but I _am_ sure they're nothing but trouble! Anyway, we're leaving! Right now!" Nami shouted while giving me a glare.

Yup, I'll never understand women.

* * *

><p>So we decided that leaving is for the best. Unless we want to cause Conis and her father more problems than we already did. I went inside the guys room and searched for something comfortable to wear since Nami thought it would be a good idea to hide my silky shirt. She'll probably sell it for a fortune and buys more clothes for herself.<p>

"Wouldn't surprise me at all." I sighed, wondering what I'm gonna do with her. "Wonder if master ever felt this way towards me."

I decided to wear a plain turqoise open shirt with white/greyish outline. It was one of those rare shirts I bought from our shopping trip with Nami. Not that I'll ever admit to her, but it was quite enjoyable.

"Gomu Gomu no Hanabi! (Firework!)"

The first thing I saw in the shore was Luffy wrapping himself in his own arms and legs like a deranged rubber ball. He then unwrapped himself from it and unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks at the misfortuned Berets. I whistled appreciatively at him, catching Choppers attention once I was out. "He's gotten faster too, impressive."

"What do you mean?"

I looked at the reindeer questioning me with a grin. "Like it or not, I'm keeping tracks about your developments here." I looked at Usopp with narrowed eyes. "Even yours..."

"Oi, oi... you don't have to be so harsh." He looked down while drawing circles on Merry's head.

I put the visors on my head while looking at the shore where Sanji and Zoro beat up those left from Luffy's attacks. "Deal with it."

"So... cool!" Chopper looked at me with those same starry eyes Luffy had few minutes ago. It was endearing to say the least.

"Hahahahahahah!" The Captain of the White Berets laughed at us. "You fools! Complete idiots! There's no going back now! You should have just obediently followed our orders! The White Berets are the most gentle and understanding of all the guardians in Godland!"

"I call bullshit on that!"

I was ignored as the Beret Captain grinned even more. "But _they_... will not be so forgiving! You are now Class-2 criminals! Beg and plead all you want. The Priest of Upper Yard..." He pointed his finger at us with a victorious smile. "...will be the ones to judge you!"

"How charming..." Me and Daxter deadpanned at him with sweat drops of our own.

* * *

><p><strong>[To Be Continued]<strong>

* * *

><p>I don't have much to say beside rate &amp; review.<p> 


	51. Ordeal of Lame

**Chapter 51: Ordeal of Lame.**

**Disclaimer: By the time you read this – you've already read it.**

* * *

><p>"Now, choose a card..." I smiled while showing Chopper a deck off cards for him to pick. I did it mostly because Nami was back to her usual self by beating Luffy for something I tuned out. I never understod that part of her where she constantly changes her demeanor. Was it whiskey? Is she drunk?<p>

_"Shit, did she found out about my stash?"_ Impossible, only me and Dax know about that. And even if she knew, Nami can't prove it. To add more unnecessary security to my stolen money scroll. It needs a certain amount of chakra to open it. And blood. Lots of blood.

Call me paranoid, but I'm sure that the money will one day come in handy.

"Ezekiel-kun!" Nami suddenly called out. I lazily turned my head to look at her with a dull look.

"What?" She kept glaring at me for no obvious reason. _"Maybe she's bipolar? That almost wouldn't surprise me at all."_

"You agree with me don't you?" Nami asked while fluttering her eyelashes. It was then that I was correct in my previous assumption. She _is _drunk.

But if she thought that's enough to change my mind. She has another thing coming to her. "The giant deathjungle?" Nami vigorously nodded her head with a big, beaming smile. "I don't really care, as long as I get to blow things up. Everything will be wonderful."

"You're not helping..." Nami raised her fist as she thought it would change my mind.

"Should I? It is the Captain's decision whether we follow him to death's door or have an adventure _while_ following him to death's door." I swiftly stood up and began to pop my joints. "It's why I joined in the first place."

Nami growled, but seemed determined to _not_ get anywhere near the jungle. So we talked with the folks here about the Clouds Ends and all that crap. She can avoid it all she likes, we'll eventually get lost in there.

_"Besides, I want to see whose eyes those belonged to." _I grinned, which was unfortunately mistaken as a malicious grin from my sidekick who decided to stay near Usopp. Yeah, a perfect place for a secure cover.

"Okay guys! Let's set sail!" Nami announced with everyone following her, including me. Don't wanna be left behind. She quickly waved at our hosts and took a little jog forward. I chuckled when Luffy ran back at the pair of winged people and requested that we'll take the rest of the foods with us. Sanji shrugged, saying that the food's better in Luffy's stomach than to just leave it.

"In that case," Usopp said. "there's something I've been meaning to ask."

"You're an engineer, right?" Daxter asked while sounding a bit rude for my taste. "Can I bum some stuff from ya, that crazy lunatic's been asking me to fix a doomsday device for 'im."

"Sure ya wanna go with 'em?" I inquired with half-lidded eyes.

"Hey, I've been around you enough to know that you're up to no good. I have better chance being around with him than with you."

"I'll take that as compliment." I grinned and nodded at him. The rest of us walked back to the ship with Chopper slumped on my head incase he 'drowns'.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Nami asked the three humans + animals retreating figures.

"I'm gonna get some food! You guys, get the ship ready for an adventure!" I gave Luffy a quick, mocking salute which only made him laugh.

"It's really scary there!" Nami shrieked at us.

"So what?" Zoro raised an eyebrow at her weird behavious. "I don't care either way. Don't take it out on me."

"Chopper~!" Nami now sweet smiled at our youngest member. "You're on my side, _right?_"

The little reindeer was frightened at her. Not that I blame him. She's just as Oda described her: a witch. Not the disney kind of witch, they at least have a heart. "I'm on Ezekiel-niisan's side."

I made a full blown laughter at that. "And the democrates win! See, this is why you have to define your terms, Tony-kun. If you don't, people die."

"Really!

I nodded with a slight frown. "Yup, that's why you have to take everything into account. But I'm sure you don't have to think about that. Just leave it to me." To ease everyone – and me – I gave a smile and sped up towards the ship. "I swear, If I don't get coffey in the next five minute, I'm going on a bloodrage."

"Oi, don't you get it? I'd be killed by those maniacs!" Nami shouted at me and Zoro. I just shrugged at her while Zoro leaned against the mast and dozed off.

"I guess we'll die then. I'm sure the afterlife ain't that bad." I saw Nami was getting a more and more demonic appearance in her. Something I found was humoring, if anything. "Well just prepare a homage for them and be done with it, sounds cool?"

"Homage? What's that?" Nami asked with question marks hovering over her head.

"Something done or given in acknowledgment or consideration of the worth of another, like a present from one faction to another." Robin explained as I saw Nami's eyes lit up.

"What are we waiting for? We'll just give them whatever it is they want."

"You sure? I was planning on representing a living corpse for them. Preferably a hot womans." I chuckled and took cover inside the galley where I made my special coffey. Truth be told, it ain't that special. Just a plain Caffé Mocha Lisa-san taught me to make. "Brooahhh!" I shook my head from the refreshing taste. "Coffey coffey coffey. It's not as strong as those condensed Red Bulls I used to brew, but it lets you keep your teeth."

**RUMBLE** **RUMBLE!**

I felt the ship shaking violently. At first I just thought it being Nami rampaging around, but dismissed the thought. I quickly ran outside to see a everyone holding onto something while yelling obscurities.

I saw Zoro trying to stab something beneath the ship, so I went to see what it was. It instanly clicked to me that we've just been screwed. "Dammit! Where's it taking us!"

"Oi!" I yelled and landed next to Zoro. "This thing looks like its taking us straight towards the jungle!"

Zoro looked a bit putted off by that, but quickly gave me a nod. "Everyone! Jump off the ship! We can still make it back!"

"But what about the ship!" Chopper yelled while tightly holding onto a rail. "If it takes the ship..."

"Don't worry, I'll stay here!"

I glared at Zoro for trying to do something heroic. "Oh no you won't! Someone with a measly 60 million beli bounty will easily get himself killed!"

"Fu*k you!" He shouted and tried multiple slashes on the thing carrying us. I shrugged at the swordsmans attempt to cut the shrimp. Sure, I could've helped him had not those Giant Skyfishes followed us.

"I'm somewhat tempted to believe that this is Luffys doing." I smiled and sat on the Captains favorite spot on Merrys head. There was a lot of talking coming from Robin telling something to Zoro.

"Someone!" I heard Nami shout, bawling her eyes out. "Heeeelp meee!"

I don't know how to help people in these kinds of situations, but at least I know a song which I started to sing out of boredom. "Row, row, row, your boat. Gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream~!"

I continued singing until I completely lost the track of time. _"Things are getting intresting around here."_ My smile widened at that when I saw the island. _"Very intresting indeed."_

* * *

><p>After the long ride, the damned shrimp dumped us on the Sacrificial Altar. I got off from the spot I lied for awhile now and began to stretch my legs. I don't know how, but Luffys enthusiasm got to me. I felt like I could take on the world.<p>

Maybe that's what made him chase his dream.

"It seems we have been brought to some type of sacrificial altar." Robin said while looking around. The Going Merry now rested on a stone platform that had a large flight of stone stairs that led down to the cloud ocean. If that's not enough, then you're in luck today. There were dozens upon dozens of Skysharks just waiting for us to go swim with them.

"What's a sacrifice?" Chopper asked around.

"Some offering to a higher being." I shrugged. "Usually its either human lives or tons of gold. Whatever pleases. At least this ain't anything like that Apocalypto. Where were being led to a similar kind of altar, our skins will be painted blue, hearts gouged from our chest and heads chopped of where they'll drop it and let it roll down the stairs."

"Oh, is that all?" Chopper blinked. "I thought I was gonna get boiled alive."

"How's that any different!" Nami started to walk back and forth in panic. She's been like that the whole trip and I'm sure the second she hears that there are tons of gold lying around here. You'll get the idea.

"What?"

Robin chuckled at the little guy. "We will still have our lives offered to God."

"WHAT!" Chopper yelled and pointed an accusing finger... hooves at me with an angry expression. "You tricked me! That means we're gonna be killed!"

I sweat dropped by the lame accusation he made. "How did I trick you?"

The next few minutes were hilarious. Chopper – in one of his panic attacks – fell from the ships rail and down to the stairs. Zoro – still in his heroic mood – saved Chopper from being eaten by a Skyshark. The funny thing was that he plunged into the water and I had to save his sorry ass.

"Hahahahaha!" I threw the swordsman down and held my ribs from the pain of laughter.

"Urusai! (Shut up!)" Zoro yelled and tried to cut me in pieces again.

"Sorry, but, I gotta ask. How dumb do you have to be to jump on a pool filled with – obviously – man-eating sharks." I laughed at his misfortune for a whole minute. Including dodging his sword striked aimed at my head.

"There's still a bunch of Skysharks down there." Nami said in worry.

"Losen up!" I gently patted her on the back. "Just remember the old saying: What doesn't kill you..."

"...makes you stronger?" She asked with a little apprehension in her voice.

"I was about to say 'stranger', but that works too!" I smiled and looked at the shark-filled lake of clouds. "There wasn't just one, eh? If we fighting each on of them, we'll be stuck here until nightfall."

"What? We'll never get to the shore like that!" Nami yelled in another fit of panic. "And we can't stay here forever!"

"He really screwed us over..." Zoro mused aloud. "That big shrimp."

"Perhaps Heave's Judgement is to let us starve here." Robin guessed.

"Well, if _he's_ into that then guess everythings possible." I chuckled.

"And how do you know that?" I shrugged, not in the mood to explain something this nontrivial to the swordsman. He narrowed his eyes a bit, but turned his gaze at the broken hull. "That looks bad. With the hull looking like that, we can't set it in the water. Think you can fix it?"

"I see what I can do for her." I looked at Chopper with a grin. "Wanna help me?"

"Huh? Me?" I nodded, still with the grin plastered on my face. "Okay..."

"Grrrreat!" I turned my head back to Zoro. "What are you gonna do?"

"I wanna go check out the forest. We might as well use this spot as a base for now. I'm sure Luffy and the others are gonna try to find us here." Zoro said. "You know what they say: If you get lost, don't move."

"You're the one who shouldn't move!" Me and Nami shouted at him. I rolled my eyes at the swordsman starting a tour. Looking around, I couldn't spot Robin anywhere and went to see what she was doing. Not surprisingly, she was staring at some strange symbol written all over the altar. So of course I was bored with her explaining about 1000 year old stuff. I've already seen enough dead stuff back home. Like Tutankhamun, or Ian McKellen.

She then asked if she could join Zoro's little tour around the jungle. Which he rudely replied and swung himself towards the land with the vine Robin smugled from somewhere.

"Wait," Nami said. "where are you going, Robin?

The archaelogist turned back to the runes with a smile of her own. "Look at this. It's been at least 1000 years since this altar was constructed. Something this historic makes me throb with excitement." I took few steps away from.

"Too much information." I deadpanned at her and jumped back on the ship. Regardless of my remark, she continued telling us that there are lots of relics to be discovered here. Which didn't surprise me at all.

"I'm going too!" Nami enthusiastically raised her hand the second Robin said something about jewels.

"Your funeral." This time me and Chopper deadpanned. If possible, we added a short roll of our eyes to the side by Nami gaining those beli signs on here eyes.

"We're going to dig up some history."

I grinned. "Just like the last guy."

* * *

><p>I laughed my ass off from Zoro's Tarzan call. That's so disney rip-off that it's not funny. "Man, what the hell was that?" Of course I was sure he didn't hear me, but it was just a figure of speech. "We need Phil Collins and a bunch of apes here. That would make my day."<p>

"Robin's so cool!" I heard Chopper gaze towards the distance at the female Indiana Jones.

"She makes it look easy." This time I heard Nami mumble from the crow's nest. "This is a bit high..."

"It's about 50 meters. If you don't make it, you'll die!" Robin called out, which made Nami shout back at her. I was also surprised there, if she heard me, then that must meant that Zoro heard my previous question. I shrugged my shoulders, he must've ignored it.

"STOP SCARING ME!" Nami tried to bring forth a brave facadé, but failed once she took a good look around her.

"You should be careful, Nami-chan! If you were to fall down, I bet _no one_ would find your body!"

"Stop saying that! Geez, you're lowering my self-esteem here."

"You hang around with us, you don't have an self-esteem." I deadpanned. "But you know what, I'm a good tutor. So I'll do what I do best."

Nami narrowed her eyes, suspicious clear in her eyes. "What?"

I summoned two orange pom poms and started to shake them like a drunken cheerleader. "Nami, Nami, she's our girl – watching you makes me hurl!"

"Will you stop that!" She growled, totally ignoring my jab. "Where did you even get those?"

"I don't know, thought it might motivate you in our next training session." I grinned when I saw the determination in her eyes. Or the determination to find the gold and jewels, but I was sure it was to get as far away from me as possible.

"Okay, already. I'll go now!" That said, she swung herself with a lot of force and was in a collision course with one of those giant trees. "Too fast! It's too fast! I can't stop!" Thankfully she was stopped by Robin who made those arm-thingy to save her. They began to yell to each other – mainly Zoro and Nami – but eventually walked further inside the jungle.

"Be careful, guys! Come back safe!" The reindeer waved.

"It's just you and me bub." I grinned and patted Choppers hat. "We'd better get to work."

"Hai!"

* * *

><p>"Screws please..." The first thing we started to work on was the hull. Without it we can't move much less sail. Not to sound rude, but fixing a ship is pretty easy. You just nail and hammer places and that's it. Or maybe I'm being a dick again and ridiculing someone elses life job.<p>

Like Frankys.

I like the cyborg Franky. Everyday's like a party with him. Colas, more colas and I'm sure he'll love mine and Daxter's blueprints. Bet he could even make a car for me. Don't need a drivers licence here.

Chopper scurried off and came back with a new batch of screws from Usopp's workshop. He's been rather eager to help me around saying that I'm brave and strong. His words, not mine.

"Ne, niisan?" Chopper tried to get my attention by tapping my back with his hooves.

"Mmm?" I couldn't reply to him with proper words now since I had a bunch of screws between my mouth. Makes me look professional while hammering the planks.

"Do you have a little brother?" That question made me stop whatever I was doing and turned my head to Chopper with a raised eyebrow. I wasn't really expecting that answer from him, but decided to sate his curiousity and took the screws off. "You don't have to answer me if you don't want to."

"Well I want." I smiled. "And no, I don't have any younger male siblings beside the two girls."

"The one in your magic mirror?"

I sweat dropped and guessed he meant my Iphone. _"Must've picked up from Luffy." _I thought. "Yeah, that. I always wanted a younger brother though, but never got one. Not that the girls company was a pick in the mud. I wanted someone I can teach things instead of the girly stuff my sisters liked."

Chopper deadpanned at me, something I guessed he picked up from me. "So you basically wanted to make a clone of yourself."

"Exactly. I would've called him; Ezekiel 2.0." I took the screws back and continued whatever the hell I was doing. Once I was done, I turned to Chopper who expectantly looked at me. "I'll go work on the hull from the inside, so I need you to stand guard here. Can you do that for me?"

He just kept staring at me. At first I thought he was sick, which would be a major problem if our only doctor gets ill.

Thankfully that was not the case as he raised his hooves to the skies and grinned. "Leave it to me!"

"I count on you." I returned the grin and went inside the men's room and from there towards the broken hull. I winced when I saw the condition she was in. "I'm not even a shipwright..." I sighed and got to work while thinking about this arc. There's not really much to think about beside that I hated it. I don't get why there are Gods and other mystic creatures here. Like people with wings and warriors with wings, who I could swear, could be mistaken as devils.

As ironic as this is, I don't believe in God. What's funny is that my name means: God will strenghten. Which is a total bullcrap. God didn't help me when I had troubles, God wasn't there for me when I needed Him/Her, God is just a imagination made by men who wanted an excuse to start a meaningless war.

I don't deal with legends – even though their fun to read – I deal with facts. Scientific facts where I need proof of the excistence of the higher being. This... place is hardly enough to explain anything to me. Its just a place I happened to get lost. Sure this is like, every nerds wet dream, but as much as I'd like to say I love it in here. There's always that lingering feeling of homesickness in me. That shouldn't be a bother to now, because I could always jam it in the back of my head.

"I can't be homesick." I shook my head and stood up. Looking at my handiwork, I nodded to it with a satisfied sigh. "Not now."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

I raised my brow at the shout. It's either were being ambushed now or Chopper's practicing his singing voice. Shaking my head again, I made my way outside to see him in his Heavy Point. What made me chuckle was that the reindeer tried to fix the mast while he accidentally 'hammered' his fingers. Talk about sloppy hand-eye coordination. But I guessed he was daydreaming so I could forgive him.

"Niisan..." Chopper let out a few tear stains from the corner of his eye. I looked at him with sympathy while wondering when he started to call me a big brother.

* * *

><p>|Flashback|<p>

I grinned and crouched down to the shy yet wary Chopper. "Tell you what. I'll let you study these eyes on one... two conditions."

Chopper looked like he wanted to argue, but alas he didn't. He stared at the cold tiles of Drum Island's castle in deep thought. "What is it?"

"You have to call me either Ezekiel-niisan or just Niisan." My grin widened when I saw him take a step back in surprise.

"What's the other?"

"I think we'll get to that once you introduce yourself." I patted his pink hat and smiled when he leaned forward.

|End flashback|

* * *

><p><em>"Oh yeah."<em> I smiled and went inside the galley where I quickly picked up a pair of band-aid. I saw him stare with those eyes again these kids usually make. It was even funnier when he was in that Heavy Point, making him look like a big baby. "A doctor ruining his life saving hands, eh?"

I laughed at his stunned face. "N-No its not like that! I wanted to help!"

"Of course, of course." I said absentmindly while gently wrapping the band-aid on his reddish finger. "I'm just teasing."

Chopper deadpanned. "You tease a lot."

"Do I?"

"Yeah, you tease everyone. Including Luffy."

I stopped what I was doing for a second. "That's because I like you, a lot. Its my way of expressing myself."

"Annoying people to death?" Chopper clenched and uncleched his fist once I was done. "If that's true. Does that mean you like Nami the most?"

I blushed a furious red, which looked extremely odd in contrast with my dark skin. "N-N-no!" I stammered. "It's not like that, uhm... its, eh... its nothing!"

"No need to get worked up. If anything, she deserves it." A sudden flaps of wings got me on guard. I jumped and took a stance with my tanto in reverse grip. "What is it?"

"We've got company." I narrowed my eyes when a man who resembled a typical aviator from the early 1900s hovered towards us with his ugly ass bird.

"What?" The man I remembered as Shura asked. "Only two? I feel insulted."

"Lemme guess, you're one of Enel's Priests?"

Shura – I guessed – smirked, "That is correct. I'm here to kill you."

"I see you're not the welcoming kind of Priest." I returned the smirk. "Not that you're any different from those pesky catholic Priest, but I'm not here to judge you. Please, continue."

"Now, it's time to offer your life to God Enel!" He made a stabbing motion with that lance of his which I swiftly dodged and took Chopper with me. I looked at the place he stabbed and wasn't surprised to see a trail of fire the lance made on the altar me and Chopper walked in. I was confused when we got there, but guessed that I wasn't paying much attention on my surroundings. "Why did you dodge? There's nothing that can save you now."

"I'm sure I can think of a reason." I quipped.

Shura got mad and flew higher with the purple feathered bird. "Fuza, burn them!"

_"Shit! The bird can breath fire!" _I quickly made my counter for it. Don't wanna see Merry burned like in the cannon. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" I exhaled a stream of fire to intercept the attack. There was a loud explosion once the two fire attacks collided. I quickly took a few steps back because of the heat. I'm only human after all.

I looked at Shura who seemed a tad bit surprised. "You can breath fire too?"

"Amongs many other things, but that ones my favorite." I stretched to get my muscles warmed up. One thing about insomnias is that my body gets tired quickly. So a pulse of chakra through my body – and a lots of coffey – I'm good as new.

"You and your nakama cannot be saved." Shura lectured, as if what he said was a common thing.

"Who the hell are you!" Chopper shouted beside me in his Heavy Point. "And don't you lay a finger on the others!"

Shura narrowed his eyes behind the goggles. He jumped from the ugly-ass bird and tried to stab Chopper, again. I activated my Sharingan and kicked the lance away while wincing in pain from the red hot lance. Shura widened his eyes when I made eye contact. He would've widened them more if my fist didn't make acquaintance with his face and sent him towards the man-eating fishes. Hell, I was surprised too. I thought these guys had that Mantra or Haki thing with them.

"That was soooo coool!" Chopper stared at me with his starry eyes.

Unfortunately for us, Shura's bird caught him from mid-air before the shark did. "H-How?"

I raised my brow at him. "How what?"

"My Mantra! Why didn't it work on you?"

I thought about it for a moment. "Oh! You mean Kenbunshoku Haki?" Shura was confused about my implication. "Well, you usually need the enemy to hit you with murderous intent. I'm a good guy, I don't do that to people whom I have no business with. I suggest you leave and train with your little group of pedos before things get out of your hands."

It was true, you need your opponents Killer Intent to accurately see his/hers next move. The Sharingan doesn't have that, it just guesses the enemies next movement. Its not much, but enough for me to avoid a possible fatal strike.

"How dare you..."

I deadpanned. "Oh boy, here we go again."

"How dare you postpone God's judgement!" That said or shouted, Shura flew high up. I narrowed my eyes when he 'threw' a handful of air at us. Since whatever Shura threw wasn't made out of chakra, I could not see what he was planning to do. "I will show you-!"

"Yeah yeah, get on with it! I ain't got all day you know." I waved him off, which to my amusement managed to get him even more riled up. Mantra or Haki-users are useless if they can't keep up their cool. I knew what Shura was up to and summoned the broken windmill shuriken. With a shout, I threw the thing high in the air with a satisfied smile.

"You totally missed him by a mile!" Chopper shouted, still in his Heavy Point.

"Or did I?" A grin formed in my mouth. Good thing I didn't have one of those impulses of mine now. Otherwise we'd be toast.

Just as I thought, we were both unable to move an inch courtesy of those damned strings. This ordeal was supposed to be Wipers, but I'm sure he won't mind me taking care of it.

Looking back at our Priest of the day. He sported a large, shit-eating grin while looking down on us. My own red eyes narrowed. That look is the same I was given in school. It was that holier-than-thou attitude I hated. But that's not a problem, I'll just beat it out of him.

"What's this?" Shura asked. "Not so confident anymore, huh?"

I rolled my eyes. "Nah, just irritated. You – just like everyone else – are constantly defiling the laws of nature. How you managed to set the strings like this without doing a damn thing is beyond me."

Shura smirked, again. "Oh that's easy." He gestured around us. "These aren't those normal string clouds I use. No, I used those same yet more efficient ones."

"Can you get to the point already?" I sighed while trying to remain calm. A pity Chopper wasn't on the same wavelenght with me.

"Do you know how Brownian motion works?"

Okay, now I was surprised. "The particle theory where particles suspended in a gas (liquid and fluid too) are used to describe their random movements!" It all clicked to me now. The ends of the strings must be made out balls of string and throws it around from it to bounce all over this place. That is if they're in a closed area where they keep bouncing from wall to wall. "Don't tell me there's somekind of force field around us."

Shura, of course, smirked more if that was possible. "You are well informed."

Again I rolled my eyes. _"It should've been _obvious._ The creator's from the normal world." _I studied my surrounding for anything useful till my eyes landed on Chopper. Or rather where he used to be. I managed to turn my head and saw him whistle the... whistle the old man Gan Fall gave us. Not that I blame him for getting all panic and hysteria on me. It was me who was playing yenga with our lives.

"Saved." Chopper sighed now in his mini...point... I dunno, I get confused by those. He must've turned small to evade all those strings, clever but unnecessary.

"You didn't have to do that..."

Chopper glared towards me. "I was scared! And you're not helping by toying around!"

"Oi, I never toy with my enemies." I glared back. "I wanna tame that bird! We'll make a better team than the spiky moustach guy!"

"I've had enough, Fuza!" Shura yelled and pointed the lance towards us, or more specifically, me. "Now offer your life to God!"

I grunted when the possiblity of me being made into a shish-kebab entered my mind. Tightening my grip on my left hand, I unclenched it and moved my index and ring finger towards me. Soon enough a buzzing sound was heard around us and I could feel myself move again just in time to dodge the lance aimed at my head. I rolled out of the way towards the mast and let the Priest flew past me.

I decided to try a new trick here. Once I was stuck on the mast via chakra, I spawned the same stuff on my legs. The idea was the same as Bellamy's spring ability, but instead of the compressed energy I'm using my own muscles energy.

And let me tell you it hurts like hell.

Ignoring the pain, I propelled myself forward and landed a haymaker on the guys face with a nice cracking noise. Shura now lied on the deck while trying to fix his shattered, bleeding nose.

"Was that your nose? That was your nose." I slowly walked towards him, but stopped in front of the guy. "I knew this 'Mantra' of yours is useless if your body can't keep up. Not that it was hard to figure out seeing as I have the same problem."

"W-What?" Shura stammered and looked at me with wide, fearful eyes.

"What, did I stutter?" I chuckled. "I can predict my opponents movement too, so I can use Killing Intent as much as I want to. It's basic math really: plus and plus equals negative. if you can predict and the same goes for me, the abilities – I guess – negate themselves. Unless you have experience under your belt." I turned around and petrified the giant bird with a Genjutsu.

"How can you move?" Shura edged to the back of the ship.

"The strings?" I inquired and moved my left arm in a wide arc and sure enough, the giant shuriken whizzed past us and lodged itself on the nearest tree. "I admit, those are pretty tough, but nothing against a chakra reinforced shuriken." I crouched down and took the same, steel wires from my pocket dimension and held it in front of him. "Now, be a good Priest and stay still."

* * *

><p>Now that I got Shura immobile. The man wouldn't shut up so I had to improvise on how to restore peace and order on the Merry. When the idea came to me, I let out a evil laughter that got the proclaimed Priest to shut up.<p>

Minutes later, I stuffed his mouth with one of Sanji's dirty training socks and taped his mouth shut. "Pentagon would pay me fortune for these weapon of mass destruction." I grinned, but ended up laughing when the man fainted with tears running down his face. "Shihahahaha! I'm incredible!"

"You're evil!" Chopper shouted and hit my leg with his tiny hooves. "You scared the crap out of me!" I noticed he also had tears on the corner of his eyes. "Don't you ever do that again!"

"I'm sorry." I picked the cry-baby up while feeling really bad about myself. "I wanted to try something."

Choppers glare intensified, something which made me a tad bit nervous. "Well whatever you were doing, you were doing it wrong!"

"You're not the first one to say that." I chuckled while thinking back to the times when master commented on my 'ingenious' plans. "Tell you what, since the old man's going to visit us. We'll go and make some refreshments." Chopper was about to open his mouth, "We'll make something nice for the birdy too."

* * *

><p>"My apologies for the wa-! What seems to be the problem?" Gan Fall, after several minutes arrived with yet another ugly ass bird near the Merry.<p>

I smiled while tasting the tea and other random food set on the deck. "A Priest attacked us, I beat him, tied him, probably tortured him. Then I got hungry and thought that this would be delightful time to invite you to our tea party." I explained and tried to vouch for Choppers unnecessary call for the Knight of the Sky.

"Did you have to?" Gan Fall asked, staring at our captive of the day who – I really hoped – fainted from the deathly odor.

"He had it coming." I shrugged and patted the seat next to me. "Please, join us."

Chopper vigorously nodded. The Knight on the otherhand was torn that we just used the whistle like this. "I can't believe you took out a Priest."

"And I can't believe it took you 15 minutes to get here." I sighed, thinking that it was a good thing the old man got here. "Nevermind that... name's Ezekiel, the little dude's Chopper." I watched the Knight nod and took a seat I offered. Chopper who was now his usual happy self poured the tea for our guest.

"What happened to the bird?" Gan Fall inquired while staring at the purple feathered bird. "It looks like it was shown a image of its imminent death."

I chuckled at that. "That's because _he_ did. Just a small show of him being cooked by our cook."

"Ok...ay..." The old man nodded, not sure what to add to that. "How were you able to defeate a Priest?"

I scratched my head, thinking what to answer while trying to be modest about it. "Their really not much without that 'Mantra' thing." Yeah, that and I knew about my opponent in advance. Nothing is more dangerous than an enemy knowing everything about you. "I refrained from killing him for a lot of reasons, namely the voice in my head." I whispered the last part out of joke which the Knight picked up and chuckled. "I'm sorry though, for calling you and that. I was hoping if you'd like to stay the night with us. The others should be back soon."

He thought about it for a good minute or two. I really wanted him to just hang around with us because that would answer questions that will definetely fly around. Save me some headache while I'm at it.

"I'm sure that can be arranged."

I grinned at his answer and held the steaming tea high up. "Wohooo! To Gan Fall-san joining our feast!" After my announcement, I chunked the tea down in one gulp. "AAAHH! HOT! HOT! HOT!"

"Ezekiel-san," Gan Fall suddenly called out to me. I stopped running around like a headless chicked and looked at the Knight with a swollen, red tongue. "Do you happen to know a man who goes by the name: The Spirit?"

I rolled my tongue back inside my mouth and gave him a nod. "Yeah, that's the guy I'm looking for. You know 'im?"

Gan Fall made a small, nostalgic smile. Not that I saw it beneath the beard, but could feel it. "He... was my very first nakama many years ago." I was intrested at the old man's story so I took my seat and stared like a kid waiting for a good story. "He was something: strong, wise, a good friend. We first started as enemies since a Blue Sea dweller were uncommon here and thought them as enemies. He convinced us that he wasn't the enemy and meant no harm to us. To prove it, he showed us how to use the Vearth to its fullest by growing fruits and vegetables."

"So..." I drawled out. "Where is he now?"

He narrowed his eyes at me, not out of anger, but out of suspicious. "What do you want with him anyways?"

I shrugged an showed the 'mark' on my right hand. "Pops asked me to find him, dunno why." Gan Fall studied the mark for a minute, but I could tell he was straining himself to remember. "I'm sure I'll bump into him one day. Hope he won't mind a friendly spar."

The Knight chuckled. "I'm sure he won't mind. He's that kind of a man who loves to battle."

"I can think a lot of people like that." I also chuckled and continued talking about his career as 'God'. Which was a problem for me to take. Not that I showed it, but it still got a bit on my nerves.

"Oi, Ezekiel! Chopper! You there or not!" I perked up by the voice. It definetely belonged to Zoro and the voice – obviously – came from the shore.

"Guuuys! We found you!" Another familiar voice I indentified as Luffys was heard loud and clear. Those guys looked a bit beat up, but beside that were fine.

"Nami-san~! Robin-chan! Did you miss me~! I overcame the Ordeal of Love!" I heard Sanji yell with their weird looking crow boat.

"Were you guys scared!" Usopp shouted as I could indentifie a blotch of orange peeking from his bag. "Rest easy now that Captain Usopp is here!"

* * *

><p>"Ara, who's that guy?" Luffy pointed at the still unconscious Shura whom I was convinced suffered from a brain hemorrhage.<p>

"Him?" I kicked the guy in the head to make sure he stays like that. "A random Priest who ambushed us, why?"

"YOU DEFEATED A PRIEST!" Everyone – not including Robin, Chopper and Gan Fall – yelled and managed to swep my hair back from the sheer force behind their voice.

"Mhmm..." I nodded, afraid I'll say something I'm going to regret.

"But how?" Usopp stepped forward. "The last Priest was able to see our next moves! You barely have any marks on you!"

I dumbly scrathed the back of my head. "Well, I have the same ability, so instead of creating a loop hole where we see our next attacks. It simply negated itself, making us seem like a normal human being. Or as normal we can be."

"Oooh..."

"I don't get it." Luffy tilted his head to the side to emphasize he was as lost as a blind, retarded puppy. He then looked at Fuza with hungry eyes. "Can we eat that?"

Fuza kept staring between me and Luffy. The bird was also about to take off when I held my hand to him. "Stay." I said in my calm voice, making the bird froze like a statue. "Remember our pact?" The bird slowly nodded and let out a pityful noise I had trouble understading. "Good."

* * *

><p>So we just decided that it would be a good idea to go into the forest and set a camp near the shore. It was already nightfall and walking around the dark forest is as good plan as jamming a microwave casserole in a super-collider.<p>

"Alright! Camping, party!" Luffy and Chopper cheered with the latter having no idea of camping inside the enemy territory till Usopp pointed out.

"Camping..." I chuckled. "I'm all in with that. I'll go fetch the Skysharks you've 'brought' us." I walked towards Fuza who began to sweat near me. If birds could sweat that is. "You want to help? I won't take no for an answer."

He nodded, still petrified by my presence near him. I decided to ease him up and gently patted him on the beak, telling that I won't hurt him.

But Luffy will if he doesn't get his food on a plate.

After fishing the presumably dead sharks, Sanji got to work and prepared a grilled shark for us. It tasted odd, must've been because this was my first time eating this thing.

"This is delicious!" I grinned and held it to Fuza. "Ne, you're like a vulture, correct?" Seeing the bird nod, I smiled at him. "Now, don't be shy. Take a bite."

As I was feeding him, Nami was giving me a suspicious glance. Mostly towards Fuza and the comatose Shura. "Why did you take the bird with you?"

"Because I can, got a problem?"

"No, it's just weird." Nami looked away from me with a slight scowl.

_"Must be girl thing again. Hopefully I wasn't too harsh on her." _I sighed and looked around from my orange sidekick. "Usopp, where's Dax?"

Seeing that the liar was preparing something, Luffy decided to explain. "He said and I quote: "You got some balls leaving me with these damned apes! Since we separated: I've been bitten, shot, bombed, electrocuted, almost drowned, almost fallen to my death and strangled! And you were God knows where, enjoying yourself with that greedy witch."" Luffy stopped.

I blinked one, then twice. "He... said all of that? My ADD seems to get worse."

"He also took your visors." Robin pointed out. I patted my head and sure enough, the purple visor was missing.

"That... bastard..." I sighed, which I did a lot these days.

"Quite down!" Usopp announced as he made a blackboard magically appear from out of nowhere. "We're getting ready to hear everone's reports! Sanji, tell us ours."

"We went to the Lost Forest, where we met a Priest named Satori who used these Surprise Balls." Me and Fuza snickered when he mentioned 'Balls', but were thankfully ignored as the situation was serious. "It was bad enough with all those Surprise Balls floating around with who knows what inside them, but what got us the most was this Mantra technique he used to predict our movements."

"So it was like fighting him with those 'Sharingan' eyes." Zoro nodded towards me. "If all of them have it, then its going to be a tight spot."

I snickered again. "Balls, tight spot..."

"Get your mind out of the gutter!"

"Yeah yeah, sorry bout that." I chuckled and explained what happened to me and the Priest. "That guy there, Shura, he's supposed to be the Priest of the Ordeal of Strings. Their not really much without the whole prediction thing."

"Does that mean you found a way around it!" Luffy shouted.

"Yeah, they can 'see' your movements by sensing your killing intent aimed at them." I shrugged "Not sure if that's true. Feel free to try it though."

"Thanks for the advice..." Sanji deadpanned with a bead of sweat. "What happened to him?" He pointed at Shura.

"Stuffed his mouth with your socks." I said in a casual manner.

Zoro flinched a bit. "Don't you think that's a bit harsh?"

"You used my socks!" The cook shouted.

"Its not like you need them anymore. Look at the guy, he's bordeline dead by just being near it." We both continued arguing about illegal use of ones garment. "Fine, fine. I'll buy you a new one." That at least got him to calm down. Maybe I'll buy pink socks for him as a joke.

"You guys sure had a rough time." Nami said while I was wondering when they'll start interrogating the old man. Seriously, he's right there and hasn't said a word. I thought these guys wanted to tie him up and beat the information out of him.

While Nami was explaining her part about this island being a piece of Jaya. I started to prepare the tents and whatnow I smuggled from the ship.

_"This whole day's been such a wash."_

* * *

><p><strong>[To Be Continued]<strong>

* * *

><p>Took me long enough, but here I am. Kicking and breathing.<p>

The fight with Shura must've been a big disappointment. Don't worry bout it! It's just a... what was the word, prologue. Yeah, that... a prologue to the next fight.

I was always wondering what happens when two people who can predict their moves fight each others. Do they just keep staring at until one of them makes a move and accidentally creates a perpetual motion machine... human. Regardless of that, the idea of it not working shall be enough.

That's all folks! Don't forget to review!


	52. Blind Man's Ordeal

**Chapter 52: Blind Man's Ordeal.**

**Disclaimer: Life is a series of unpleasant awakenings. No, I don't own One Piece, Naruto or Capcom. If I did then I'd probably live in a dungeon. Don't know why.**

So here I am. Patrolling the area like the good ninja scout I am while tree hopping around. Weirdly enough, it felt natural and was thankfully accompanied by Gan Fall and his bird. I told Fuza to help Sanji around if he needs the fire for something. The bird reluctantly nodded, but I could feel the light apprehension in him. Presumably because I showed him being boiled by Sanji inside out.

"I swear, Nami and her paranoia." I shook my head. _"Makes me wander around here just because me and Gan Fall are the only ones to take on a Priest. Beside the other three, but that's not the point."_ I stopped on a tree branch and looked around with a thoughtful expression. _"I might take on a Priest, but two would be impossible. Even for the Sharingan standards. Kage Bunshin could help, but that's a itch in the back I'm not willing to scratch."_

"Something wrong, Ezekiel-san?" Gan Fall inquired as he and the bird Pierre landed next to me.

I shook my head again. "No, its nothing." I stared towards the place where multiple gunshots were heard. "They seem to avoid getting near the Altar."

"That they do." The old man nodded. "It might appear holy for the Priest here, but the thing is: the Altar's been build here not five years after Enel took over. The enviroment and the lack of care made it look old."

I raised a brow at him. "So it's a fake?"

"Yes." He nodded again, this time with the bird who scowled. A remarkable feet from his species. "The old one, the one on the map. That was the original Altar, but was destroyed by the previous Blue Sea dwellers thinking it contained this gold you're looking for."

"I see..." I returned the nod and watched him fly off. _"I better not get near them... for now at least."_ I slowly made my way back while scanning the place. It was something my uncle taught me in our little hunt episode. _"Seeing as I used the sturdy tree branches, there shouldn't be any trails on the ground."_ I neatly landed on the ground while moving as stealthy as possible. It was really hard with these settings here. I'm used to those city ones that are more... modern.

_"What the hell, what the hell..." _I thought and sighed in defeat that I was indeed bored. Now that I know that we won't be ambushed anytime soon. I decided to train a new swords style I picked up from a certain classic game I came to love as my own son. Or as much as Darth Vader loved Luke before he chopped his hand off.

But before I do that, there was something my fake bloodline limit picked up. A trail of footprints of a large animal. I touched it and could feel that it was fresh, about 2 minutes old, tops. The footprint went past the giant tree and me, being the ever curious rounin, I followed the trail of scary looking prints.

_"Well... to be fair, you have to be a samurai to be recognized as a rounin."_ I deadpanned at my lack of information. I'm not a samurai since I obviously lack the proper honor they use. "Seriously, it's like I'm _desinged_ to kill people." I stopped and thought about it for a second. _"Could my master really do something like that? Would he?" _I vigorously shook my head. I trusted and loved the old man, doubting him is the same as doubting myself.

Once that was out of my mind and sight. I followed the trail till I heard a menacing, animalistic growl. Turning around, there wasn't anything indicating that an animal was tailing me. Scratching my head, I suddenly caught a handful of slimy thing dripping on my hair. At first I thought that this was one of Usopp's and Luffy's pranks, but when the thought of them being near the Altar entered my mind. I tentatively looked up and rolled out of the way with wide eyes.

There, in front of me, was a huge, mutated rat I have ever seen in my life. The thing towered me and kept staring me with those hungry, six yellow eyes. It was in all fours with dark brown skin, nostrils the size of my fists and black, jagged teeth that I was sure could rip my flesh from my bones.

I unsheated my katana this time as I – after lots of pouting – promised to ''dance'' with the sentient katana. A pity she has this ugly mutt as her partner. And I'm not talking about myself.

I shook my head to get rid of the saliva on my hair. It wasn't much, but I'm sure no one wants to have a saliva on their hair. The giant rat let out a huge growl and ran at me with that heavy, yet slow movements, so I was confident that I don't need the Sharingan for this.

As the rat raised his right paw with his huge claws. I closed the distance between us and felt the katana being surrounded by a green aura. "Youdantotsu! (Leaf Severing Thrust!)" I shouted my attacks name and pierced the rat through its heart with the green glowing katana. What I found was fascinating was that the green aura resembled a drill of sort and had no problem breaking the tough skin and gore. That didn't happen when I was training.

I had some amount of respect for these creatures and made sure the attack was swift and painless. I took the sword out of it and cleanedthe katana by stabbing a random tree.

I walked towards the dead rat and grabbed it by its tail. "Nothing beats the classics." I chuckled where I began to drag the thing to our ''camping'' area while singing a song. Not that I sang it aloud, who knows who'll eavesdrop on me.

"But Sanji! I'm hungry!" I heard Luffy moaning. "And I want meat!"

"Did I hear, meat?" I grinned and threw the giant rat in front of the rubberman. "Found this little bugger trying to play ninja on me."

Luffy's eye lit up with drool escaping from the corner of his mouth. "Meeat! Sanji, cook it!"

The cook shrugged and got to work. "What about the patrol?" He asked, probably because it was Nami who asked me to do that and he wants to make sure her wish is fulfilled.

"Oji-chan's covering it." I replied while petting Fuza's feathers. The bird was a lot taller now that I think about it. He could easily carry more than one person with him, but it'll be some work-out depending on how long he'd have to fly.

"Oi, Ezekiel." Sanji called out ot me. "You're not doing anything, right?"

"Well, not yet, why?" I raised a brow at him.

"I want you to heat this rock." Sanji pointed at the huge piece of rock near the giant cauldron. I shrugged and decided to help around lest he'll forbid me to eat.

So I did what the guy wanted and with a bit of help from Zoro, who managed to put the red hot rock into the giant cauldron with the help of his katana. Made me feel like I was an evil wizard from the darkest corner of Waverly place. I also had to help Sanji to prepare the rats meat while making sure – without Sanji's knowing – that Nami wasn't looking. I wanted to _surprise_ her a bit.

"What! We're gonna eat a rock!" Luffy shouted/asked with wide eyes once he caught the scene of a rock dropped into the stew. "Is it good?"

"You don't eat it. This is Hot Rock Stew." Sanji explained and added something about boiling the stew which went right over the his head.

"So does that mean I get to eat?" Luffy asked and looked at me. "You're hungry too?"

Just when he said that, my stomach started to growl from the lack of food. "I guess..." I chuckled with a small, embarrassed blush.

"Didn't you two just eat four whole Skysharks!" Sanji asked with those shark-like anime teeth I've seen a lot.

"Yes..." Me and Luffy said at the same time, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Those were the appetizers."

"Jeez, another bottomless pit..." Nami groaned from her spot near the salt crystal. Knowing her, she mistoke the thing as some sort of jewel. But being the good guy that I am. I ignored her and sat near Fuza who lied down once I was close to him.

"Yosh, everyone take your seat!" Sanji announced. "I'll pass out the plates, so eat up before it gets cold."

This time the navigator decided to voice out her plans for tomorrow. "Okay, guys! I'm gonna explain how we should plan to move tomorrow!" Nami said as she took her place away from me and Fuza. Not that I minded it. It was nice eating in peace without her possibly interrogating my ass off. "You can keep eating, but listen up!"

"Sure..." I smiled and took the offered two plates from our waiter Chopper. "Thanks." I gently set the plate in front of Fuza who started to eat the stew with patience unlike me. Sure, I was a bit disappointed for not fully bonding with him, but I guess it takes time. I did force him to dine with us.

"Everyone ready? First off, let's review Norland's picture book." I gave Nami a quick glance and chuckled seeing her with glasses and two short ponytails. Made her look cute. "Norland first discovered the City of Cold about 400 years ago..." She talked about the guy Norland and his plight.

I didn't pay much attention to her and focused on Gan Fall who graced his presence to us. He too was given the stew Sanji made. I was still pretty confused to why the people here weren't questioning the old man. He knows more about this place than I can remember.

_"Must be something anime related..." _I shook my head with a sigh. It was the only possible explanation I could come up with. I saw everyone were walking towards Nami who held the whole map of the original Jaya. They talked a bit, cheered, more cheering and Nami announcing that we'll risk our lives for a few ounce of gold tomorrow.

"All we have to do is head straight for that point." Nami motioned for me to come closer, which I did. This might be important. "We can't leave the ship unguarded, so tomorrow we'll split up into two teams." I shrugged, it was an okay plan. "No doubt about it. There's a fortune in gold just waiting for us!"

* * *

><p>After we stuffed ourselves with more food. We started to clean the dishes and do stuff. Like setting a huge campfire.<p>

"It's getting late." Robin said. "There's no need for the fire, so we should put it out. We'll give away our location to our enemies."

"Hmph, what a stupid idea." Luffy sneered. "You hear that, Usopp? Can you believe what she just said? ''Put out the fire.'', ridiculous." I chuckled and decided to watch this little scene.

"It can't be helped." Usopp shook his head. "Don't be so hard on her. Robin's a woman who has lived her entire life in darkness. She just doesn't know."

I was amused, for once, Robin showed emotion. "What do you mean?" Though, to be fair. This one was one of distraught.

Luffy and Usopp kept staring at her, but after few seconds they were on the ground saying something about campfires being a must. It was true, but I prefer the sleeping in the dark. Not that I'll get any sleep, but I can dream about it, right?

"Hey, that's enough fooling around!" Nami shouted. "You know how dangerous this forest is, right!"

"Don't care!"

"There are Priest out there! And guerillas too! And even without them, forest like this are still dangerous at night! There's probably fierce beasts or monsters lurking out there!"

I ignored her rantings and began to wash my hair after I forgot that I had the rats saliva in it. _"Note to self: cut your hair shorter." _I nodded at my plan. I also ignored Usopp mumbling something and Choppers whining, but couldn't help but laugh at the huge pile of logs the other two smugled here.

"You guys are in on this too!"

"Don't worry, Nami-san." Sanji assured her. "Wild animals are naturally afraid of fire."

I chuckled and walked towards Shura. The man was somewhat conscious with tears rolling down from his eyes. He mumbled something I had problem deciphering. Shrugging, I dragged the guy by his leg and walked away.

"Oi, where're you going? And where are you taking him?" Zoro asked with his own raised brow. He was nowadays more intrusive – like the rest of the crew – about my unusual habits like: sadism, training and super-awesome-ninja skills Luffy shouts around. But what they all want to know about me is my past. They said I'm sad or just feeling overall regret and pain time to time. Now that I think about it. Luffy, Usopp and Chopper were always trying to cheer me up. Hell, even Sanji prepared me a dessert once he caught me brooding.

"I don't see any use to him," I pulled the unconscious Priest a bit. "might as well feed him to the sharks."

"WHAT!"

"What what? He's nearly dead because of Sanji's socks." I chuckled and gave Shura a light kick to the ribs. "It's funny because he technically killed him."

"Oi, don't blame me for this!" Sanji shouted. "I was about to wash them."

"Of course, of course." I waved him off. "I'll just move him somewhere he won't bother us."

"Its not like he has any choice." Zoro shook his head.

"Behind you! Behind you! There's something behind you!" Nami started to shout and pointed at the group of white wolves. Chopper thankfully translated to us what those pesky wolves wanted. I shrugged my shoulders and walked towards one of those giant trees. There I just dumped the immobile Shura and stared at him.

"I'm not going to kill you if that's what you're thinking." I wasn't sure if he could hear me or not. "But I can't let you go. Its nothing personal really. I'll come by tomorrow and see how you're doing."

I walked back to the camp and scratched my head when I saw the same pack of wolves now dancing around the huge campfire.

"Come aboad! Come aboard! It's the Eve of Gold Festival!" I saw Usopp with a barrel-like drum. Probably using it as an instrument. Not that it was wrong or anything, but still a bit weird with all these dancing wolfs.

_"Reminds me of that one movie: Dances with Wolves."_ I sighed. _"It was a good movie. Grandma liked it."_

I shrugged, again, and could feel my shoulders being tense from doing the same thing all day. I looked down and there was one of those animals. This time a small, grey cub who yipped at me. I slowly crouched down to it and gave the animal a scratch behind the ears. I was surprised when the cub jumped at me, so of course I had to grab it before... she... collides with my face.

I wasn't really in that mood to party with all these guys. So I just laughed with them from my spot while petting the little cub.

"Ezekiel-kun!" I jerked my head at the voice. There was only one member around here who adds that suffix to my name. The other two being Lisa and master. I remember when I had trouble remembering those, but it eventually grew on me. Just had to be careful not mentioning it to my ''foreign'' friends as I dubbed them.

"Uhm, what?" I tilted my head to the side whilst waiting for whatever she wanted to bug me.

Nami huffed in annoyance. "You're such a spoilsport." She offered me a small bowl of something I had trouble indentifying. "Come now, drink with me!"

"What is this?" I sniffed the content. "Juice?" I raised my brow at Nami. She was the one who tries the most of this... cheering me up thing. It was cute, but totally unnecessary.

She giggled at me and gave a light punch to my shoulder. "No silly, it's wine."

"Oh..." I gave off a sad smile. "so there's alcohol in it?" What a dumb question; of course there's alcohol in it.

"Yup, and it's good too." She beamed with that bipolar smile of hers. Or so I'd like to think. She changes her personality just like every other women. And that's on a good day.

"I'm not sure. I'm not much of a fan when it comes to alcoholic bevarages." I gently set the bowl down with some amount of regret swelling over me.

Nami edged a bit closer. A bit too close, but not enough to fully invade my personal space."Why not?"

I looked at the trail of smoke the huge fire produced and followed it to the sky. "I promised to have my first drink with master when I graduate from his teachings in a few years. Said to be a tradition between mentor and student or something like that." I waved my hand in front of me to wipe the image of me having a drink with him entered my mind. "He said that after the drink we'd be equals, but well... you know."

Silence reigned us and I felt bad for bringing this up. This is why I hate bringing up my past to people I care about. "I'm sorry." I heard Nami mumble under her breath.

"No, no, it's me who should apologize. I shouldn't have brought this up." I violently shook my head and took the bowl. "No more." That said, I gulped the wine down and felt my throat burning from the unknown liquid. "Eeew... tastes like..." I stopped what I was saying and looked at Nami. "This is actually very lite and tastes good too. I've seem to have missed a lot."

"B-But you just..."

"I just what?" I quirked an eyebrow.

"I thought you don't drink." She looked at me like I've just commited a crime. It would be ironic. She's the most criminal minded person on this crew. "What about your-!"

I interrupted her before she says something that might bring me to tears. "I'm sure I can make an exception for you." I grinned and drank the rest of the stuff with the navigator while ignoring her blushing. Must've been the alcohol she drank so far. "Was it fun?"

"Huh?" She tilted her head to the side, but quicly got my message when I motioned towards the dense, dark forest. "Yeah, it was nice. I had few run-ins with Sharks and nearly falling to my death. Thanks for asking."

"Anytime." I chuckled and saw the little grey cub now curling on Nami's lap.

"How's the ship doing?" Nami asked after more talking random things about Upper Yard. Mostly about her _strangely_ improved balance.

"I'll do some more fixing on her later with Usopp. That is if he can keep up." I said and also ignored Sanji's staring us. He's acting like a father looking after his daughters new boyfriend while stroking his shotgun like a James Bond villain.

"You're not tired?" Nami asked with a sigh and looked down on her cup of wine. I felt bad, again. People shouldn't worry over me. I feel like I don't deserve that kind of attention from anyone.

"Now now there, no need to cry over a spilled milk. Things like this happen all the time. I've said it hundred times and I'll say it again: it's something I have to live with." I petted the little grey cub who kept jumping between me and Nami. It was adorable, but had to stop her from distracting me. I saw Gan Fall walking towards us in a grey white cloak instead of the metal armor. "Find anything?"

The Knight of the Sky shook his head. "No, the Shandians and the Priests war came to a sudden halt. I think it's because Enel summoned them."

I blinked at him. "There're only two Priests left. They must be pretty weak not to beat 'em." Nami gave a punch to my shoulder telling something about not underestimating them. How could I not? There are about dozens of them against two Priests.

"Two?" Gan Fall asked in confusion. "You must be mistaken, there are four of them left."

"Really?" I asked, bewildered that there were six Priest here in Upper Yard/Jaya. "And their supposed to ''judge'' us?" I was getting slightly agitated, not only do we have more Priest here. No, their also one of those wild cards I've been encountering for awhile. "Are they strong?"

"They're _all_ strong." He said and added a long sigh to it. We were both silent for a moment when a grin appeared on my lips.

"This just proved to be far more intresting than I thought." I don't know, but the idea of fighting strong, unpredictable opponents is like hanukkah to me: it makes no sense, but it's still worth the time. That is if I'm Jewish of course, which I'm not.

"You want to fight? Again?" Nami stared and knocked on my head. "Are you out of your mind? We can't just waltz in and fight them!"

I rubbed the spot where she hit me. "Aw, but I want to meet strong people."

"And you're not afraid they'll kill you?"

"If that happens, you're welcome to my funeral." I chuckled and grabbed her fist before it met my face. "Such temper... no wonder you kept ''falling to your death'' as you put it."

Nami kept growling, but didn't do anything else beside taking back her arm to her side. "Idiot, can't you be more thoughtful than that?"

"I'm trying," I pouted. "it's hard not to resist. What if they're good?"

Nami groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "You're impossible."

"It's part of my charm." I grinned. "Now that I feel a bit tipsy. I think it would be wise not to drink." I stood up and dusted myself for any 'Vearth' that got to my pants. The little cub ran back to its mother once we talked about the Priest. It was weird, yes, but not something I should pay much attention.

"Can't you keep me company?" Nami pouted while trying to put an innoced facadé around her. Puppy eyes wont work on her as much as it does with children, but it was funny seeing her put a effort on something this untrivial. "You'll break my heart by leaving me alone."

"*Sigh* Fine, I keep you this... company you speak off." I said and rolled my eyes. _She's_ the impossible one, not me.

* * *

><p>I wasn't surprised to see Nami all drunk and happy, again. I, of course, refrained from drinking again. Someone has to stay and guard these guys. That's why I was putting blankets for the passed out people lying with the wolves. Don't want anyone to get sick.<p>

"Ezekiel," I heard a voice behind me. Turning around, I was greeted by a sweating Usopp who looked like he ran a marathon. His legs were shaking and much to my disgust was holding his groin as it would explode in a second.

"What?"

"I need to pee..."

I sweat dropped a bead of sweat from the back of my head. "You don't need my permission for that. Please, help yourself."

"But I'm scared. I need someone to protect me." Usopp said while staring at the giant trees. Like something's gonna pop out and eat him first. "What if I get ambushed. I heard you got attacked by a monster."

"Then scream like a damsel in distress and I'll be your superman." I rolled my eyes. He could be much more braver than that.

"Can't you pop up a clone or something?" Usopp asked.

"I don't trust those guys." I sighed. "Their being dicks and I don't feel comfortable about them running around without supervision." Yeah, because babysitting yourself is way harder than it sounds like.

"You're cold." Usopp resigned to his fate and walked towards the Altar's direction. I shook my head at him. There's got to be something I can do for him too. Beside the physical torture I have planned for Nami.

It didn't take too long for me to hear Usopp's scream and just as I promised. I went there with the now woken up Zoro to see what the commotion was all about. We both shook our heads seeing Usopp twitching on the ground saying something about a ghost beating Merry.

"What's with him?" Zoro asked.

"I dunno. He said he was gonna take a leak and now he's passed out like a drunkard." I answered him and poked Usopp head with the bottom of my shoe.

"He's hopeless." Zoro growled when Usopp started to mumble something incoherrent. "Quit dreaming!"

"*Sigh* Whatever, let's drag him back and be done with this." Zoro shrugged and grabbed the sharpshooters leg. I did the same, mostly because it was funny as hell. _"Six Priests... and now there's only four left, eh? I know there's that Ohm guy and Gedatsu, the latter who's funny as hell. I'm even tempted to seek him and talk stuff with him." _I chuckled, but serious'd once I got ahold of myself. _"I wonder who the other two are..."_ I shook my head to get rid of the thought. Only time will tell.

Hope it's soon.

"Something on your mind?" Zoro inquired with those tired eyes. The guy needs way too much sleep for a normal guy. It makes someone like me jealous.

"Just thinking about tomorrow." I gently set Usopp's unconscious form near a tree and tucked him with a random blanket. "Things like: gold, Priest, God... stuff like that."

"Whatever." Zoro shrugged and went back to sleep near the ashen campfire.

"Chin-ko..." I grumbled in annoyance that the guy gets to sleep.

"I heard that."

* * *

><p>The nightshift was as peaceful as ever with these guys around. They got their 8 hours while I mastered yet another sword technique. Sure, it takes a considerable amount of chakra, but the result is astonishing. Even better than the original if I must say.<p>

"Look!" Usopp shouted as we all woke up, packed the tents and walked towards the now fixed Merry. "It's just like I said! Someone must have been here!" Oh, and Usopp's constant screams about ghosts marching about.

We used the two birds to get us to the ship and the rest using the weird crow boat. While the group were looking around, I went inside the galley and saw the orange ottsel sleeping next to my modified visor. I picked up the thing and saw it was a different colored one: orange. It looked more like a snowboard goggle than the actual visor I had with me yesterday. I took it and set it so that they hung neatly on my neck.

_"He must've worked on it all night." _I smiled at the human turned ottsel. He doesn't have much combat experience, but I was sure that whatever he invents will blow my mind. Like the hoverboard for example.

"Oi, Ezekiel!" Luffy called out to me. I gave Daxter his blanket and stared at the Captain once I was outside. "Did you fix the ship?"

"It's not like I haven't. I did – somewhat – fix the hull, but there seems to be few more repairs done for the Merry I have no memory of. We did fix it with Tony-kun earlier, but not this much."

"Even the broken mast?" Nami inquired.

"I was about to, but got attacked before I got to do anything about it." I scratched my head. "I seem to have forgotten about that. Damn ADD..." I grumbled.

"So you didn't fix the ship?" Sanji asked.

"We fixed the hull, but not the whole ship."

"Aha!" Luffy suddenly shouted, as if he discovered the murdered from the game Cluedo. "You're being modest!" We had our short moment of face faults by the stupid proclamation.

"But, I'm sorry to say..." Sanji said in one of his thinking poses. "...he did a piss-poor job of it."

I got annoyed by that. I might not be a shipwright, but I did what I could for them. "Compared to your cooking skill, I'd say this takes the first price." One thing about Sanji is that he gets mad if someone or anyone says something bad about his food/cooking.

"What was that, Baka shinobi?" He turned around with a death glare of his own.

"You heard me twinkle toes. It's not like your _delicate _hands can do hard tasks like this so it's easier for you to mock other peoples hard work." I crossed my arms over my chest. My eyes narrowed when he was about to kick my head with his right foot. I took a step back and let his leg fly past my face. He growled more and decided to do a different aproach: sweep my legs off and attack from there. Sure I was much faster than the cook, but he still has more power behind those kicks of his. Even the chakra powered ones.

**BAM!**

Luckily the fight was stopped by Nami fuming at us. "Will you two stop it! We're in the middle of enemy territory! Fighting each other will do us no good!" She was about to hit me too, but I quickly evaded it and sat next to Fuza who was – thankfully – glaring back at her. She took the message and gave me one last glare before returning back to Sanji.

"Hai, Nami-san." Sanji rubbed his head whistl – I was by now used to it – glared at me. To get me mad, you have to do something pretty stupid. Annoying me isn't that much, but still gets on my nerves.

"Hn." I rudely turned my head to the side. He just got the best of me. Won't happen again.

The people here ignored and assumed it was me who fixed the ship. I didn't feel good taking credit for the work. I knew it was the Klabauternmann who worked on it all night. I just didn't feel like disturbing him... or her on him/her's work.

_"That's just the way you humans are." _That voice came beside me, but I couldn't agree with it more. _"Your race always seeks for a scapegoat for something they do not know or didn't do."_

"You hammered the nail right over the eye." I nodded when it came to me that it was Fuza who talked with me. "Was that you?"

_"You understand what I'm talking about?"_ The three lenght bird blinked his yellow eyes. _"I thought humans are incapable of understanding animal language."_

"Okay, cut the whole ''human'-thing. It's annoying."

_"Yes master."_ Fuza bowed – or it looked like he bowed. If birds could bow that is.

"And the 'master'..." I looked down, away from his piercing gaze. "I don't deserve that title. And will you guys stop blaming me for this!" I shouted once those praises flew here and there.

"Well it had to be someone, it's the only logical way." Robin said.

_"You're a fictional character, the lot of you. What's logical about this..." _I sighed in defeat. "Yeah, whatever. I don't care anymore." I turned my head and looked at the old goat head with a amused smile. "Thanks for the help..."

"How do we get the Merry off?" Chopper asked around him.

"And so it begins..." I sighed when I saw the glint in Usopp's eye.

* * *

><p>Usopp's first plan was a bust and I decided to help the guy a bit. By planting explosive near the Altar on Merry's side. It would be much easier to let her fall from there. Like a instant slide. As much as I wanted to use the grenades. I needed something with a remote detonator so I had to draw few explosive tags with my last blotch of ink. I had my doubts I'll get any around here.<p>

Good thing Gan Fall told the slightly angry Robin about this place being a fake. Otherwise she would no doubt get Ohara on me.

Okay, that was a bad pun and I'm sorry for that.

"You sure this'll work?" Sanji asked, I was glad that he was one of those guys. The one who forget about their hostility after a little mishap.

"Have I ever let you down?" I saw he – and few more – were about to open their mouth. "That was a rhetorical quesion." I deadpanned at them. Talk about having faith in your nakamas. "I always wanted to say this," I grinned and held my hand in a half tiger seal. "Katsu!"

**BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!**

There were three huge explosion going from the side of the Altar. It took a good chuck of it and the first phase of my plan was complete. The other was for me to wave at Fuza to pull the Merry so she won't plung into the waters bow first.

"Yeah! He did it!" I heard Luffy cheer with many others once the ship hit the cloud sea. I could feel myself blush from the attention I was given since I wasn't used to it. This is what they were talking about: stage fright.

But wait, weren't you supposed to be scared instead of acting shy?

"Awesome! You're awesome, Niisan!" I could only rub the back of my head really. This was highly unlike me.

"Thanks, but you should than Fuza too." I tried to move the attention to anywhere but me. A shame it didn't work with Nami hugging me and everything. Injecting even more unneeded attention to me if possible.

"Great work, Ezekiel-kun! You're simply amazing!"

Not that I minded the hug, but the guys staring at us wasn't exactly something you want to experience. And Robin wasn't helping much with her giggling.

_"Maybe we should've gone with Usopps's plan to use Chopper as a bait." _I thought and did what every guy does when a hot girl glomps him with some emotions swirling around her. Be it in sadness or joy. I returned the hug and turned her around so that my arm was draped over her shoulder. Guys who do that usually want the break the hug as fast as they can. It wasn't like I didn't want to, but Sanji's glare was something I want aimed at my enemies. _"Guess I'll have to grab something else for breakfast..."_

One thing that bothered me here was that Robin didn't complain about me blowing something this historic. I expected her to protest or something, bur nothing, nada. I'd have to talk with her about that. If she's scared of me, then I think it would be wise to make things clear between us. I ain't gonna murder her or something.

That is unless she's a traitor. I don't tolerate traitors.

* * *

><p>"Alright, look at the map." Nami said once we all boarded the ship. What embarassed me to no end was the peck to the cheek I was given by the cheery navigator once everyone were out of sight. So I was pretty thankful no one noticed the blush on my face. One of the perks of being dark-skinned guy, it easily covers that. "The route the exploration team will be taking is directly south." She pointed at the top part of Skypiea. "Here, to the right, there should be some ruins. Beware of all the enemies along the way and bring back the gold."<p>

"You make it sound easy." Usopp groaned.

"If it involves investigating ruins, I'll gladly do it." Robin said, no surprise there.

"What about you?" Luffy asked the cheery navigator whom I kept a safe distance from. "You keep talking about gold and more gold and you're not gonna come?"

"Of course not. It's scary there" Nami said in all honesty, making me and Fuza wonder if she's sane.

_"She wants the gold, but she's not willing to risk anything to get it."_ Fuza started at her. _"To think that you humans..." _At least he remembers not to annoy me and stopped to make that reference.

"Meanwhile, we'll take the Merry through the island. It'll be dangerous for us too. We'll be heading towards the coast as fast as we can, so..." Nami drew a line where the exploration team walks through and the Going Merry-guards own short journey through the map. "We'll meet directly north from here and then make a quick escape from Sky Island. We'll become a rich pirate crew! We can buy whatever we want!"

"Alright! Buy All the meat!" Luffy cheered, one fist in the air and another – strangely – holding a broomstick.

"Buy ALL the explosive!" I also cheered and wanted enough explosive to level down Mariejois into rubble. "Uhm, what were the teams now?" I asked, feeling bad for ignoring it.

"It's me, Sanji, Nami and you. The others gets to wander around." Usopp answered.

"What? Why can't I go with those guys?" I pouted, not in the mood to play the sitting duck.

"Because you're the only on who can counter that Mantra." Nami said while tapping her high heels against the deck. "And I need someone to protect me."

"Me too!"

"Can't Sanji do it?" I groaned after Usopp's pleading looks. "I don't feel like babysitting anyone."

"It's not babysitting, it's bodyguarding." Nami walked towards me with that sickly sweet smile.

"Whatever is going through that sick mind of yours, forget it." It seemed that my word went over her head. "I won't do it." Nami still kept walking over to me. "I'm warning you, Nami." Now I was getting scared, usually she acts like this in one of our ''night dates''. And completely out of everyone's view, because of her being shy. "Please don't hurt me."

I shut my eyes, but quickly opened my right one in fright. There stood Nami, in front of me, caressing my cheek with a smile. "If you say so, but do be careful out there." She looked around the forest and shuddered. "This place give me the creeps." That said, the scary bipolar navigator walked towards the galley with few intresting steps.

"What the hell just happened?" Zoro asked, looking between me and Nami in bewilderment. That expression was also copied by everone, not including Fuza and Gan Fall who chuckled with Robin.

"That's a first..." Usopp said.

"Is there something going between the two of you?" Robin inquired with that ever amused look and those eyes that keep saying that I-know-something-you-don't-know look Zoe used spams at me. Usually it held something she used to torture me with. Like me skipping school for visiting master.

"What?" I asked in a voice that belied my true meaning. "N-No, nothing. She's crazy is all. We don't get along, not one bit."

"Really? Now that I think about it," Luffy tapped his chin in thought. A feat from him that I haven't seen in quite awhile now. "You two got along... much like a house on fire."

"Yeah, a house filled with people burning to death." I sweat dropped with many others at his unusual way of putting this problem into words.

"Maybe she's sick?" Chopper tried to pry answers from anyone – aside from Luffy of course. I gently shook my head, telling him that there's no need for that.

_"Dense bastards..." _I thought with a small smile. "Fuza, we're leaving."

I was about to mount the bird when – surprisingly – Sanji stopped me. "Oi, don't you need any lunch to take with?"

I thought about it and sounded like a good idea. "Uhm, sure... thanks." Though I wasn't sure why he acts so nicely to me. Maybe there's a disease going around the ship? Nah, Chopper would've noticed that. If not well... I have to get used to those attention alarmbells.

Moments later, Sanji returned with a backpack full off food. Don't know what's in it, but to be sure I checked it out. "I didn't poison them if that's what you're thinking."

"Nah, it's not that." I sniffed the content for a second. "Just making sure it's actual food. But, thanks and sorry about earlier. It wasn't my intention to snap."

He just waved me off and said that I better look after Robin or else... Well, I could do that. It was a pretty good exchange. Food for protection. Kinda like one of those mafia movies I've seen, but instead of food they use money. Or drugs, whatever pleases the other.

_"Your people are dumb as dogs, you know that?" _Fuza tweeted as I jumped from the ship and landed on his back. _"Where to now?"_

"Let's begin by bringing your previous master to those Shandians."

I felt that Fuza was a bit puzzled. Not that I'll tell him, but he would've eventually betrayed Shura after his fight with Wiper. If he's going to bail on me, I'll fry him.

_"As you wish."_

* * *

><p>We now landed to where I dumped Shura the previous night and let me tell you. I felt bad. Like, really bad for putting a fellow human being – with wings – into such state. He smelled like crap on a stick and looked like he hasn't slept the whole night. He looked like me when I had my first signs of insomnia. That was <em>not<em> pretty. I had to skip school for weeks because of it.

I walked over to him and used unnecessary force to rip the tape from his mouth. The problem with him was the saliva soaked sock I picked out. "Eeeew... nasty..." I threw the thing away and started to interrogate him. "I think we can jump over to my question and over the meaningless small talks, ne?"

"Yes! yes!" Shura cried. "Please, anything. Just let me go."

I sweat dropped, thinking that I could make a fantastic villain if I put enough time and money – which I happed to have, lots of it – into my agenda.

"Tell me about those Priest... I know there's that baldy Ohm and the weirdo Gedatsu. Who are the other two?"

Shura looked pale and constantly kept looking up in fright. "No, no, no... He'll kill me?"

I sighed and decided to use the same line I always use to people who say that. "And how does that differ from what I'm going to do to you? Because if you don't tell me what I want to know, I _will_ send to a world of pain. A world, where the only noise you'll hear is that of your haggard breath as you choke down on your own entrails and believe me, your torture will never end till I'm satisfied." I gave off a ominous, dark chuckle that set him on the edge. "I'm sure we can also find many... painful... ways to use that heat lance."

"Okay, I tell you!" Shura paled in fright. "One of the Priests! H-He's one of Enel-sama's personal guard and the Priest of the Ordeal of...! T-The O-O-Ordeal of..." He looked above us with those eyes again, but there seems to be something more to it.

_"He looks like he's about to accept his fate." _My eyes widened. "Enel, shit!" I saw Fuza got the message and took off. I did the same with my Body Flicked technique and reappeared far away from the soon to be dead Priest.

**FWUUUUM BOOOOM!**

The same light blue pillar of pure lightning came down on Shura and completely vaporized the spot we just lounged. The only thing left of the place is just a huge hole. I was sure that people will come look for that spot and made haste to get the hell out of there.

"What the hell, what the hell..." I shook my head. "Fuza, stay close to the ground incase the same thing comes down on us. At least we'll have a better chance to dodge it." I got my affirmative from him and hovered closer to the earth...vearth or whatever. "That's the power of Logia, huh? Pretty scary. Could easily put Sasuke's Kirin look like an apple next to a pile of oranges." Though, to be fair, the jutsu's waaaay more faster than this beam of flashlight. Something I'm trying to recreate just because of the speed.

_"Pardon me?" _Fuza landed next to a tree branch after Enel's supposed judgement.

"I like orange and grew a severe dislike for apples. And that was after meeting Nami..." I sighed. "What the hell's wrong with me?" I shook my head at that. Better not think about it.

We continued flying to south where I'll probably meet with Robin there. I could probably ask her about her behaviour around me lately.

Looking to my left, there was one of those goat people I identified as Enforcers... or Birkans. I dunno, but their ugly that's for sure. I wasn't in the mood to kill things so I did the next best thing. Beat the crap out of it and threw him off from the slowly flying bird. After that, two Shandians ambushed me, but what annoyed me was that they confused me as one of those Priests.

Guess why...

"Die scum." I even had the decency to chuckle. Fuza thankfully kept dodging those guns while I was regaining my composure. At least I know now that I have to avoid killing, for now.

I gently grabbed my katana from the hilt and unsheated her half-way through the sheat. I took a deep, calming breath and closed my eyes to prepare my second attack I got my inspired from the game. The same green aura enveloped the sword and with a single, wide, horizontal slash, I shouted: "Kougenjin! (Mirage Blade!)" A green, cresent shaped shockwave hit the two warriors on their midrift. I was careful not to add the slicing capabilty and instead used a more blunt version of it.

I picked the two unconscious warriors and set them in a safe spot on a tree branch. They'll wake up soon enough and be off my throat. I decided to pick up the pace and change the direction to east. Those Priest got to be somewhere.

* * *

><p>While flying to my next random direction while beating those goat people and warriors. We came upon a rather peculiar sight: a cave. Something I don't remember being in this arc beside Enel's Maxim giant, flying ship.<p>

My eyes narrowed at the dark, cold tunnel of darkness. "Not sure if the next Ordeal or just a plain scary cave."

_"The former, sir."_ Fuza said. _"This one should lead you to the next Ordeal. Or so I've heard from my previous master. The Ordeal of Darkness."_

"Seriously?" I deadpanned. "I thought these guys had something that sounds less dangerous. Like the Ordeal of Pancakes. Or, oh! Nachos!" I shouted and walked inside the suspicious rock corridor. I whistled appreciatively by the torches lighting me the way. "Now this is how you invite guests. I'd love to meet the host!"

_"Are you sure about this? I heard that's he's not human."_

I quirked an eyebrow while still walking deeper into the cave. "Not human, eh?" Stopping, I turned to Fuza. "You don't have to come with me if you don't want to. It's your decision now, go and live free or settle down." It wasn't like I wanted to tame him really. Its just that I thought birds breathing fire were bad ass.

I saw he nodded at me and turned around while staring of to distance. _"Thank you. I hope we will meet again."_

"I'm sure we will." I smiled a warm smile. With one last look, Fuza gave me a good luck and took of to the skies. "Let's see this Devil Priest then."

* * *

><p>One thing I didn't expect here was that those damn Enforcers were waiting for me. It was good thing I did, otherwise I would've had problems with those Axe Dials later. Now I know that I'd have stay away from them. I don't want my face to be scarred – though, that would look cool.<p>

After walking for tens of minutes. I came across a two-way path. Scratching my head in confusion, I did what every other guy would do in my position. _"What would Indiana Jones do..."_ I hummed in thought. "He'll probably take the left one, because it's closer to the heart." Nodding, I walked to the left one and saw something ''intresting'' painting on the rocky wall: a blood handprint. "Now I know I'm going the right way."

I ignored the blood, but stayed focused incase I get ambushed, again. I felt like I was a grave robber and this ''road'' leads me to a room filled with death. Well, I'm sure it can't be that bad.

Nah... who am I kidding? I'm a pessimist, of course something's gonna pop attack me sooner or later. "Maybe that wasn't a guiding bloody handprint, but a _warning_ bloody handprint." I nodded, which oddly made sense once I noticed the lights were getting dimmer.

Of course, I should've know better. Traps. I knew I stepped onto something that didn't feel natural. Or as natural as rocks can be. Sure, I might've expected few arrows and poisonous snake, but this takes the cake of the most badass traps ever. The whole floor was covered with Flame Dials. And correct me if I'm wrong, but are those Breath Dials hanging from the ceiling?

"You know, I don't feel like singing anymore." I deadpanned and made a mad run forward the second I head the wind howling. It's the same with Katon and Fūton, mix those two together and you have one big ass explosion going through the narrow tunnel. And scorching hot flames after your butt. I had to up my speed just so I won't be melted by the heat alone. I saw an opening and knew that once I get there, everything will be wonderful.

**BOOM! CRASH! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!**

That was the sound of my exit sealed shut by a massive pile of rocks. "What the hell do I do now?" I grumbled and decided to explore. What I noticed here was a huge – and I mean a huge underground cave with stalagmites and stalactites. Sorta looked like a I was inside a giants mouth. A giant who didn't brush his teeth. _"Seems like this goes somewhere, better find an exit while I'm at it." _Lucky for me, this part of the cave wasn't that much darker than I thought. There were those few light blotches, but guessed them being the sun edging its way here.

That or those simple Lamp Dials.

One thing about me is that if I get lost – or in this case alone – I start to babble like a lonely old woman in a retirement house. While I kept looking for anything useful that might help me out. I had this feeling that I was being watch. I hoped I was wrong though, whoever was staring keeps giving me the cold shoulder.

Well whatever, I'll just talk to get my mind out of it.

"This must have been what H.G. Wells was talking about." I said while studying one of the deadly looking stalagmites. "Maybe half of humanity will go underground and start a new society, and enslave the surface-dwellers." I nodded, the idea sounded pretty good. "That's my destiny. Yeah, I'm a first-generation Morlock. I don't think I'll start cannibalizing people right away, though. I'll at least wait until the lunch I have with me runs out. The question is: where can I get human bodies?"

"Yours will do just fine." I didn't expect someone to answer that, but it did. Turning around, I was greeted by a guy, not much older than me with a strange greying brown hair and dull, brown eyes that showed he was bored to death here. "Welcome to the Ordeal of yadda-yadda and I'm here to kill you."

"That's..." I deadpanned at his lack of mannerisms. "oddly rude of you."

He began to ruffle his messed up hair. Looked like he just woke up because of the explosion. "For Enel-sama's sake, can't a guy sleep in peace around here?" I narrowed my eyes and began to look closer. He seemed to notice this and snapped his fingers. I was startled when the lights went off. The whole cave was dark. I couldn't see a damned thing. This is why the Sharingan suck, they can't see in the dark. "Ordeal of Darkness." He said with a sigh that told me he wanted to be anywhere but here.

"Oh, so this _is_ one of those ordeals, huh?" I nodded. "I thought you guys had to be on the surface, not trolling around. Get it? Trolling, because you're in a cave and..."

"Are you sane?"

"Last time I checked, no." I shook my head while thinking about a plan. I would've come up with something had I not heard a wizzling sound and jump in a random direction. Whatever that sound was, it hit me straight in my chest and inflicted those slash marks I usually get from Zoro. I could feel those weren't too deep which meant that the training I did with the ex-pirate hunter came to fruition. _"Axe Dials, how original." _ There was a lot more power in them than the ones the Enforcers use.

"That was meant to kill you, but it seems I have to use even more force dealing with you, troublesome." The Priest sighed again and I could bet whole savings that he was a descendant from the Nara clan by the verbal tic of his. There was another voice I heard, this time a fast whoosing noise and the next thing I knew. A fist slammed against the side of my head and sent me to a wall of rock.

"Goddammit..." I groaned and stood up. _"If he wants to play rough, I'll give him rough." _I made few handseal and inhaled the smell of water, salt and sulfur in this confined rocky space. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu." I exhaled a giant orb of fire that lit the cave for a moment. It was then I saw the Priest dodging the fireball with a lazy, disintrested expression. I growled in annoyance and unsheated my katana with a tight grip on both of my hands. A seal-less Shunshin later, I reappeared in front of him and I held the katana so that I was aiming to pierce his head clean off. "Youdantotsu!" I made a powerful – in my mind – thrust with the green covered katana and was about to smirk victoriously had the guy not dodged it by moving his head back. He wasn't done there as I heard yet another whoosing noise I was sure came from his leg he stretched and kicked me on the stomach.

The kick sent me away as I hit multiple stalagmites on the way to yet another rocky wall. My back ached in pain. That was one hell of a kick. Could possibly rival one of Sanji's kicks.

"This is getting bored..." The Priest voice rung around the cave. "I heard from Enel-sama you guys were tough. I guess he gave you more credits than I thought."

I ignored his jabs and tried to locate where that voice came from. _"How could he dodge that? I was sure I had him there. Was it Mantra?"_ I resisted the urge to smack my head upside-down. _"Shit, I forgot to activate these damn eyes."_

"Ever heard of Dial Kenpo?" The sudden footsteps made me grip my katana harder. The problem about the Sharingans is that it's useless unless I can see my opponent. The Color of Observation doesn't have that and by the looks of it. The guy can sense me by either through his Mantra or hearing my breath, heartbeat and the like.

"Can't say that I have." I answered his question if only to get more time to come with a decent plan which doesn't involve of me burning this cave structure and burying me with stones.

"It's basically a fighting style..." His steps became much closer and louder by the each step he made. Seconds later, I felt something crack inside me. I was happy – not – when my brain registered that it was my rib. "...that uses dial as its main component. Jet Dials to increase both ones speed and power..." He moved again but this time I could somehow 'sense' his presence in front of me. I quickly made a slash only for a bonging noise to resound in my head. Next thing I knew, my face – or so I thought – made an imprint on the nearby rocky wall behind me.

My head was in shambles. I felt helpless and this lazy Shikamaru copy bastard toying with me. "Let me guess: Impact Dial."

"That is correct." I guess he nodded by my conjecture. "Another way to use the sky warfare your people lack."

"Oi," I growled at nowhere in particular. "what do you mean ''your people''?" I made a random swing to the darkness. "It's not thought that you're brown nosing Enel's butt all day, but you just had to go and play the race card didn't you? Do you know how hard it is for-!" My words died down when I felt another multiple slash marks appear on my torso.

"That's not what I mean, idiot." The Priest snarled. "There are lots of things you can do with dials. My favorite one though..." I could feel his emotion again and I made a pretty good guess that it was a smug, shit-eating grin these Priests or any other bad guys have. Two finger like stabs to my left thigh later, I collapsed to the ground. "..Taser Dial. Small, finger-sized dials that uses electrical current to distrupt voluntary control of muscles."

_"Dammit, my leg's gone numb!"_ I thought furiously. That Dial's shouldn't be on this damned anime. Someone must've made that thing appear out of nowhere. _"When I get my hands on him or whoever."_

"You've provided me with enough entertainment." The Priest sighed. "But I want to go back to sleep now. That trap wasn't meant for anyone. It seems some are more curious than others."

I closed my eyes not in resignation, but in focus. Before I lost my balance, I threw a clump of chakra above me. _"Time to test something new, again."_ I made a small smile grace my lips. _"This arc's been nothing but inspiration after another."_ I forced the cloud of chakra I can see in the dark spin around me thanks to my now active Sharingan. The feeling was there, the Priest was close and the mist of chakra was now strong enought to use it. "Katon: Gouka Senpuu! (Fire Release: Hellfire Whirlwind!" A flaming whirlwind of fire emerged around me, litting the cave and forming a somewhat protective barrier around me. I saw the Priest _now_ surprised face as the fire burned his grey tanktop and scorched the black shorts of his.

This jutsu was still a prototype and is used to stop opponents from continuing their taijutsu attack. Often this can be used as offence to send an opponent who prefers close range combat a good distance away from its spinning force. Hate to say, but I still have problems mixing the elements which means this is pure fire dancing around me.

"Che, that hurt you bakayarou!" I could now see, his hands were covered in bandages with lumps on his palm, elbow, finger and legs. He was like Sky Franky, only more human and less of those angry looks he's been giving me.

What a sore loser.

"Want me to kiss it better?" I grinned and limped towards him. _"I have about a minute to uphold this jutsu. Better make this one fast."_ The Priest stood up and ran back to the darkness for cover. I wouldn't let that happen as I gripped my katana and smiled one the green aura was there. "Kougenjin!" Again I let the cresent green blade after him while chopping the stalagmites off. Not that I had anything against them.

My attack hit him on the back and made a long, nasty scar that went from his left shoulder to the right hip. "Gaaah!" The Priest shouted in pain. He turned around and made several palm thrusts forward. Unleashing a barrage of slicing wind blades towards me. I saw them, yes, but had trouble properly dodging the attack in my state. Instead of shouting, I gritted my teeth until the pain was over.

From the darkness in front of me. The Priest – whose name is yet to be uncovered – sped towards me with cracks appearing on his steps. He reared his fist back and even though I was using the Sharingan this time. I had trouble seeing the attack and was sucker punched right in the face. Those damn Jet Dials are getting on my nerves. Anything fast enough to bypass the eyejutsu gets on my nerves.

My leg felt much better now that I had a splitting headache from the constant hits on my forehead. I used my Shunshin and kneed the bastards face for payback. I wasn't done there as I grabbed his leg, poured even more chakra to my arm and rammed his whole body on a nearby stalagmite. To add more injury to him, I finished it by slamming him on the ground. I could've used more subtly martial arms, but my dominant leg out it was hard so I decided to do something more Luffy-like.

"Do you know how much those hits hurt!" I spat a glob of blood to the side. "You could've splitted my skull open!"

"That was the point!" He stood up from his prone position and made a blurred kick to my ribs. There goes another rib.

"Stop kicking me!" I punched his stomach with enough chakra behind it to make a punch that was on part with on of Luffy's pistol. I was just so damned pissed and the voice in my head keeps telling me to kill the guy. I grabbed a handful of his hair, kneed his face again which sent him upwards and grabbed his throat where I plunged his form to the ground neck first. He was either pretty weak without the darkness hiding him or I'm relying too much on those bastard eyes. "F**k, you're even more pain in the ass than Sanji! He at least knows not to shatter my ribs and aim for the head like the rest of the crew!"

I kept staring at him, waiting for the Dial Kenpo user to jump and attack me. I raised my brow when he was unresponsive for awhile. Did I kill him? I was mad, but was I mad enough to murder someone?

I crouched down to see if he was alive only to receive a finger stab to my chest. Of course it had to be near the heart. I was lucky – and I mean _really_ lucky to see him wince in pain before he made the finishing stab. Sure the first one should've been enough to kill me, but it seemed that my Hellfire Whirlwind inflicted more damage to those Dials in his fingers. I've never been this close to death since Specter's blood saw blades.

I tightly gripped my chest in pain. Whether it is particle or wave, electric shocks through the heart will still kill you. I began to pant and the excruciating pain made me fall flat on the ground while breathing my ass off.

"I don't know what you are, but I've had it." The Priest hovered above me and grabbed my throat. I was surprised that he managed to lift me off. He grinned a maniac grin which showed his three chipped teeth. Must've been the result of me hammering him on the ground. "I'm sure Enel-sama won't mind if I kill one of you. Not that he'll know, seeing as His Mantra won't reach us."

I ignored what he said and focused to get out of his grip. My fear kept increasing when he set his palm right close to my eye. _"He's going to cut my eye off!" _I thought and decided to use the rest of my fire barrier to burn his hand.

**BOOM!**

There was a huge explosion next to his pain-filled scream. I knew I had to trust my instinct now. The Hellfire Whirlwind can only be used once. No wonder it's a B-rank jutsu: easy to make, hard to do it again. That's why it's still a prototype.

And it leaves you drained if kept over a minute.

I heard few rumbling noises and rocks falling, but that's it. I waited still for about 30 seconds, wondering why I wasn't attacked by now. I was sure he should've been mad at me by now.

_"Maybe he's resting."_ I though and decided to do the same while not letting my guard down. My leg was still numb, I have a murderous headache, one step away from having a cardiac arrest and not to mention the chakra drain from using the Mirage Blade. _"I still need to work on that."_

After 10 minutes of standing still. I was getting worried. Sure I could be patience, but against a dangerous opponent breaks that. What made me edgy was the smell of cooked meat and the thought of it being a human flesh set me off.

"Yo! Dude, you okay!" I called out. It was stupid, yes, but if he could sense where I am and not attack me in 10 minutes. He must be either sleeping or dead. "The nerve of that guy." I made two simple hand seal and clenched my left hand. "Raiton: Denkyū no Jutsu (Lightning Release: Lightbulb)"

Yeah, sure I could've used this earlier, but come on. Would you use a lightbulb to light about two metres diameter. And that is only if you held the ball of azure light above your head which would've leave you not only one arm short, but you can't diminish it after it's gone. Which is in about five minutes.

I walked to my last spot and groaned when I saw how badly I've taken damage. My torso was slashed with blood seeping out, few lumps I was sure were my ribs, hands were peeled off from my new sword technique. Good thing I don't see how my face is or I would've screamed for the Priest ruining my modelling career.

I saw blood – mine and the Priests – all over the place. Kinda made me wonder who bled more. I walked further and could see him lying there, unmoving, with a huge stalactile piercing through his heart. The explosion or _explosions_ – notice the plural – must've weakened the caves structure. People would've feaked out by now, but not me. Death isn't really that gruesome to me anymore. It used to, but that was when master died I figured that it's part of the natural circle in life. You have to deal with it. I crouched down, again, as I was pretty sure with that fatal hit he _won't_ be getting up anytime soon.

"I never got his name..." I said and was thing about whether to cremate him or just leave him to rot in this cave. I decided with the latter once those stalactiles began to shower down on me. With a quick Body Flicker, I was a good distance away from the body and watched it being piled by rocks after rocks. "Well, that works too I guess."

Holding the lightbuld high, I found a stone corridor at the opposite end of the entrance that was sealed shut. I walked in there once I retrieved Yamaoroshi who cut my hand for being hurt. She has a weird way of saying: ''I was worried about you, please let me cut your arm to make me feel better about myself.''

_"Women, I'll never understand them."_ I thought with a shake of my head.

_"I heard that."_

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><p>After talking with the two sentient weapons. I promised Triton I'll fight with him the next bastard we meet. Unless I die of course.<p>

"Stone corridor, stone corridor and more stone corridor. I bet I could find a troll in here. That would make my day." I walked a bit further when a cold wind passed by me. "Whoa, drafty!" I shouted at the coldness beating me to death. "Where the hell did that came from!" I rubbed myself to keep the heat inside my body. The lighting here was much better and once I felt there was enough of that. I waited for the Lightbulb to diminish and walk forward. "I can't turn back..." I groaned when I had no other choice but to proceed to the underground freezer.

_"I don't feel a thing."_ Triton mocked me. _"You sure you're not imagining it?"_ He started doing that after I payed him little to no attention. He's like a small, old and dangerous baby you want to cuddle to death just because he annoys you. I of course ignored the midget in pants. Being nearly frozen might do that to you.

"Oh my God it's getting cold in here!" I yelled and started to run forward if only to keep myself warm. "Is it 10-fu**ing-Kelvin! What the hell is with this place!"

_"Sire, you're exaggerating."_ The speaking tanto said.

"SIRE! Do I own a mansion? No?" I shouted, while it was not my intention, the coldness was drilling into my very being. "Think about warm stuff, warm things... uhm, hot cocoa..." I closed my eyes to imagined them whilst running. "...warm blanket, Chopper... a hug from Nami after a long, hot shower..." I felt it worked and the temperature was drastically decreasing. "That shouldn't be possible, but anything to make myself more comfortable. Hell, I would kill someone just for that."

Once the temperature was enough or at least bearable. I leaned against the corridor and summoned a first-aid kit Chopper forced me to carry with me at all times. It was nice and cute, but did he really have to use force to do that.

I opened the box and the first thing I tended was my torso. For that I had to summon a clone. Unluckily for me, this bastard was just – if not more – lazier than my last opponent. But seeing as he had little to no damage on his face beside few scratchs and dirt. I assumed I was in the same condition.

"Do I have to?" He groaned. "You can do that yourself, just bend down and-"

"If I could then why did I summon you!" I threatened the clone by dispelling it with a sword to the butt and out of his mouth. Psychological warfare worked for Vlad the Impaler, it can work for me too. Once that was done. I patched up my hands and clenched to make sure it wasn't too tight. It was a good thing too that the little doctor taught me these. Not that there was much to learn, but it was endearing if anything. "What happened to the temperature? Or better yet, where did it came from?"

"Dispell me already, I want to sleep." My clone complained. I didn't feel like doing the normal dispelling so I smacked him right in his prick face.

"That'll teach ya..." I grumbled. "So, about the temperature? Did it run away? Did I will it out of existence? Or maybe it was never there to begin with." I kept walking further and felt like I walked a marathon. Not that you can _walk_ a marathon. You have to run, run like your life depended on it. "I don't know what the hell I'm talking about."

I saw the corridor was getting wider and wider. I hoped I'll find the exit, but no. Fate or lady luck or whatever keeps getting in my way. Now I'm in huge ass pit – not much bigger than the previous cave – and a tiny hole at the other side of it. I don't have enough power to jump over there so I did the next best thing.

Walked the side of it by sticking to it with chakra.

"Geez that's a long drop." I looked down... or to my right... at the bottomless pit. "I wonder if there's a pool of water down there. If there is, I bet I could get a splash three stories high." At least I see something now. That's all I need and want. The Ordeal of Darkness was a big pain and I hope the next one is much more funnier. I chuckled at the idea. As if they'll make these Ordeals easier on me. "I suppose it's possible that I won't encounter anyone hostile today, but... no, that's not possible. Somethings bound to ruin my day. Like Nami-chan being a man or-"

"You finding yourself in my Ordeal, punk?" An annoying voice echoed here. I tried to find the voice, but had no suck luck and couldn't spot it despite the good lighting this place had. "Over here."

The voice was rude. I don't like rude. I like me being rude to others, not the otherway around. After looking around, I found the guy also sticking on the side of the huge pit right above me. I activated my Sharingan to see any chakra leaking from his feet. _"No, there's none. Devil Fruit maybe? Dial?" _I kept looking at my soon to be opponent with critical eye. He looked like the previous Priest, only more buffer and shoulder lenght jet black hair. His eyes were odd: cold and void of any emotions. Just like this pit. He also had bandaged arms and leg. I raised my brow when there was one strapped in the middle of his chest. _"Weird, but I'm not one to judge."_

"So you're the one who triggered those explosives." He stated, also looking at me with critical eyes.

"Yeah," I nodded, remembering the traps with Heat and Breath Dials. "I admit, that was clever. Using Breath Dials to amplify the fire. I could've been done in there."

"And you're also the one who defeated my brother?" This time he was slightly surprised. Not that he showed it much.

I paniced a bit. "Shit, uhm... see the thing is, he's... kinda dead right now."

"I see," He closed his eyes, perhaps he was having a silent moment so I let him have one. Not that I had any intention to break it. He deserves that. "Good thing he's dead."

My both brows raised in surprise. "W-What?" I would've asked more if not for the fact that he attacked me head first. Since he was directly above me, he gained more speed from the gravity and decked me right in my stomach. That hurt, a lot, and sent me sailing down where I had to re-pump my legs with chakra to stick on the side of the rock again. I ran back up and decided to rightout sweep his legs underneath him. As I expected – or I think at least – he grabbed the rock above him and pulled himself upwards. There was a little time spent for him to do that. So I used that opportunity to launch myself forward and knee him in the stomach.

He doubled over in pain, obviously not expecting that one since I used the Body Flicker to get to him. I felt my right bicep condence once the chakra was channeled and gave the Priest a good smack to his jaw. I wasn't done there as my other hand uppercutted his face and sent the bastard carreering upwards. He stuck to it again and gave me a look. The second mystery Priest of the day wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his white bandage, leaving a trail of it in said white medical cloth.

What made me narrow my eyes and activate the Sharingans were those familiar palm thrust of his that I had to dodge. It was much easier now since I had my leg fully functional.

I took out my tanto, channeled enough chakra for it to resemble the chokutō I happen to be so fond off and held it in front of me with a reverse grip. I used my Body Flicker with its cool flame burst to dash foward. I was aiming for non-lethal strikes as the dead of the other Priest – whose name is still unknown – weighted my conscious. Something which should be impossible.

The Priest in front of me kept glaring at me. There was no anger, remorse, sadness. Nothing. He was like the perfect ninja. Not those Naruto ninjas who keep shouting and bragging.

Beside everything else that's happened to me today. I was grinning madly at the prospect of fighting this guy. He was different.

"I can tell that you're not going to make this is easy on me. Dood..." I made a my sword's stance with my legs bent and the sword held so that I was directly pointing at him near my spinning red tomoe eyes. My grin widened when the chokutō started to glow blue and crackle with azure lightning that made the mysterious Priest drop his mask for a second. "...neither am I."

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><p><strong>[To Be Continued]<strong>

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><p>Chin-ko - dick<p>

Bakayarou – dumb bastard

Huh! I haven't written this much since I was bored, but I did and regret now doing so. Why? I tried a diffrerent aproach by writing longer chapter per someone's instruction. See how this'll go.

If you didn't get those two attacks then no worries. Their from those old Megaman games I've been playing once I found out my PS2 gathered way too much dust. The funny thing about is that I was about to give it away for my younger cousins to enjoy, but developed a bond with all of my precious games and said that they'll have to visit me if they want to play. I'm so evil.

There will be more of those attacks here ans there. A bit diversed ones. I'll explain more about the green stuff later. And no, Ezekiel's not going to get stronger by it and he'll notice that using those attacks will cost him more than he thinks.

I'm a bit disappointed with the fight against the mystery Priest-who's-name-is-unknown-at-the-moment. Tell me what you think about it. Thought it was cool with changing Mr. 2's Okama Kenpo into Dial Kenpo. There will be more of those custom Dials later on.

About the Altar being destroyed right in front of Robin... we'll get to that later too. I wanted to give Ezekiel a reason to at least talk with her. I came to like Robin once I began to watch One Piece after a long hiatus and came to like her.

Katon: Gouka Senpuu no Jutsu (Fire Release • Hellfire Whirlwind Jutsu) Rank: B

Description: A skill which can be used in order to protect the user. Gathering their chakra into the air and having it spin around them, a flaming whirlwind emerges around the user forming somewhat of a protective barrier. Normally it is used to deter the opponent from continuing their taijutsu attack, but can be used offensively to send an opponent whom prefers close range a good distance away because of its spinning force.

Raiton: Denkyū no Jutsu (Lightning Release: Lightbulb) Rank: E

Description: A ball of light, about the size of a baseball, will appear in the hand of the user. This would allow them to see better when traveling around at night. It will wear away after five minutes of use. The downside of it being that it will stuck on the users hand for the durable amount of time.

Thank you for your time and leave a review!


	53. The Right Path

**Chapter 53: The Right Path.**

**Disclaimer: I think I've had it with mustard, it never goes good with fries like ketchup.**

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><p><em>"Goddammit!"<em> I wiped the smudge of blood from my mouth while staring at my opponent of the day. He was fast thanks to those cursed Jet Dials of his. I'm thinking that their not your average Jet Dial though. If the concentrated amount of air it spewes out gives me a reason to doubt it.

Ever since I got these Sharingan eyes. I had to change my style so that relies on these eyes and counters my opponents attacks. Now that my Sharingans are pretty much useless against him. He seems to know my next attack beforehand thanks to his experience given by age.

"You're strong." The Priest admitted and I felt a bit better about myself. "It's been a while since I last used a weapon, but I think you have proven yourself to be quite the opponent."

I grinned. "Right back at ya. Mind if get a name? Mine's Ezekiel, no lastname needed."

"Félix the God's Executioner." I scratched the back of my head. Not that I'll say it out loud, but that name's ridiculous. He noticed this though and I was somewhat glad he didn't point it out. Otherwise I'd feel like a clown.

Félix reared his right fist back. I tensed, thinking that he was about to use his customized Axe Dials on me. The ones where instead of slashing me, it sends a barrage of wind-like bullets at me AND slashes me. But that wasn't the case. He punched the rock right beneath him till his arm below the eldow was buried.

_"That's... original..." _I furrowed my brow in thought. He grunted, or so it looked like by his gritted teeth. It was like he was pulling out something. After five seconds of ''constipation''. Félix finally pulled out whatever he was about to pull and made my eyes wide in surprise. There, in his hand, was an enormous broadsword, about five to six feet long wih a single-edged blade approximately one foot wide. Kinda like Zabuza's Kubikiribōchō (Decapitating Carving Knife) but with a modern glint on it. "Hey, big guy. Zack Fair called, he wants his Buster Sword back."

"I do not know who this ''Zack'' is, but he sounds disappointing."

I chuckled a bit. "I have to remember that." My small fit of giggles was succesfully ended by Félix nearly eviscerate me with his fake Buster Sword. I cut of the mist of chakra from my feet and let myself fall deeper into the pit. I hoped there's a narrow tunnel which would enable him from using that sword he seems to swing around like it weights nothing.

I kept running down and felt it was getting colder and colder every step I took. Going down would get me killed from the frostbites alone, so I stopped and blocked the giant butcher knife with my lightning enhanced chokutō. I could feel the force he put behind the swing and I had to channel enough chakra to my bicep. The amount was nearly about to rip my tendons off. It was a good thing to know that I inflicted damage to him by the iron sword conducting lightning. We both took a good distance away from each other whilst breathing heavily.

"Well well, not bad." Félix actually complimented me. "Rather impressive actually."

"Why thank you." I smiled, this was very thrilling to say the least. I haven't had this much fun since I noticed me and Zoro fighting once on equal grounds. Though, to be fair, he was still more experienced with swords than me and that is only if we cut the ninjutsu off. That would be overkill. "You're not too shabby either."

"Remnànt," He began and I guessed it was his late brothers name. "yes, I can see why he had trouble with you." He scowled, if only slighty before putting his emotionless mask back. "My brother was a pest: would've killed him myself sooner or later. He was always using the cowards way of fighting. A disgrace as Enel-sama's loyal Priest. Despite him being lazy as a slouch, he was always trying to beat me. Trying to be the best, that he definitely had the edge to be recognized as the strongest."

_"So there was an animosity between them. No surprise there."_ I nodded. _"These Priest hated each others guts."_

"I am not doing this out of revenge if that's what you're thinking." Félix said in his monotone. "There is a Survival Game Enel-sama bestowed upon us and I am merely doing His bidding."

"The loyalty to your _God_..." I scowled a bit, not liking that word. "...is admirable, but don't you think what he's doing is wrong? He's going to kill hundreds of innocent lives because of what? Few clumps of dirt?"

He seethed at me and sent a barrage of wind pistols I had to dodge by moving to the side. "Dare talk about _my_ God like that!" At least he showed some amount of emotion beside disgust. "Glory of God, I am His instrument, His executioner! I fear no pain nor death!"

_"Wow, a Enel fanboy. That's a rare sight."_ I chuckled which only made my opponent even more mad and charged at me with full intent to kill. I saw he was about to chop my head clean off with wide wide, fast swing. I managed to duck under the huge sword with some trouble, but received a Jet Dial powered kick to my temple. _"Okay, maybe it's not a good idea for people to constantly hit my head."_ I shook the dizziness off of me right on time to dodge another attack aimed to severe my neck.

"My Mantra," It seems in his anger he realised his lack of Haki. "what happened!"

"Well..." I thought about wether or not I should tell him. "I... might have some traits of that ''Mantra'' too, so I guess it won't work on another user. Though, mine seems to be working a tad bit different compared to others so it won't necessarily work if two Haki users fought each other." I did it mostly because I wanted a good fight – even though I was beat from my previous fight with Remnànt – and not because I hate these guys.

Who am I kidding? Of course I hate these bastard, but I can see this guys chance of being saved from the hatred. There is some good in him and I plan to bring that out by beating the everloving Enel out of him.

Félix charged at me with his cleaver sword and made a stabbing motion with the cleaver sword. I jumped upwards from my position which left me in mid-air for a second. The sword already made the stab so I used that chance to stick to the sword with chakra and delivered a chakra-enhanced kick to his head. I could've sworn I heard a cracking noise from his skull.

What surprised me the most was that he still managed to hold onto his sword after my attack. I on the other hand had to twist my body so that I grabbed a handful of rock and re-stuck myself on the wall. I grinned a victorious grin for landing a heavy hit on his head. I wasn't very keen on letting him recover though and charged forward with a seal less Shunshin. My next attacks were two more hits to his forehead, left hook to his ribs and kneed the same place by pulling him closer to my body for more damage while still holding onto my sword.

"How do ya like them apples?" I was pretty confident I broke a rid and fractured his skull. Regardless of my attacks being a bit deadly. I made sure not to land a fatal hit on him. I was aiming to incapacitate him till Enel's beat up.

And be careful not to cause any deaths like my last two opponents in these major arcs.

"I am His shield..." He mumbled something with his head held low. "...His sword, His will..." Félix raised his head and gave me a glare I haven't seen since I told Suz she can't fight because she's a girl. "...by His order, I shall annihilate you!"

_"He lost it." _I grimaced and resisted the urge to pity the guy. It was his choice to go down the path of pain and destruction. _"I might have to finish him off permanently."_

The Priest charged at me yet again. This time he had his cool back, which meant more trouble for me. What surprised me again was that he had his both arms wide open, exposing his bandaged chest that I could very well pierce with a single attack. Gulping, I readied my chokutō and poured more chakra to enhance its piercing capasity. I made the stab only for Félix to hit the center of his chest and some unknown force slamming into my very being.

_"What the hell was that?"_ I thought after narrowly evading the strike that followed my stumbling and neatly landed on the rocky wall. _"It felt like something pushed me down. Like Star Wars _The Force_ stuff. Very cliché," _I glared back at the emotionless Priest. "Very cliché indeed..."

"What are you talking about." He narrowed his eyes at me. Obviously thinking I have few loose screws in my head. Which I happen to have, lots of them.

"Never mind." I shook my head. Those must be the force field thing Shura used for his bal... no, Ordeal of Stri... I slapped myself for thinking like that. Obviously hanging around with Nami does that to you. Or so I'd like to believe. There _has_ to be an explanation for my hormone overload.

Guess it's just me being a man.

"There _is_ something wrong with you." Félix pointed out.

"Brillian deduction, Sherlock. Being exposed to my captain's stupidity does that to you." I groaned and decided to use a fire jutsu to bust a cap on his head. "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" I spewed multiple fireballs at his direction and saw him deflect those with the flat side of his fake Buster Sword. I ran back towards Félix with a small amount of Killing Intent from my part. Since I was sure he can't see me with his sword obscuring his sight. I tried to attack him from behind and kick him down to pit. What I found was strange were those white paint-like liquid of footprints behind the Priest. _"Better thing about that later."_

My plan on blindsiding him would've worked had the guy not made a full 360 degree spin with the giant sword. The motion left me with a shallow cut on my stomach – not that there wasn't anything shallow on that area – and retaliated with a strong Jet Dial punch to my head. He wasn't done there as Félix grabbed by throat and slammed me against the rock hard wall. My back ached even more, but not as much as his followed up attack by kneeing me on the stomach. Repeatedly.

I got out of there by grabbing his wrist, twisted it around and threw him downwards on the pit with his sword still stuck on his hand like a glue. A groan escaped my throat seeing him stab the zanbatō on the wall. If he'd just pummel to the ground as a bloody heap of gore would satisfy me enough to celebrate.

Where did that come from?

I shook my head again and decided to head for the surface. I would kill for a lungful of fresh air. A pity my opponent wasn't on the same level as me. The guy was running back up and this constant stream of chakra outlet from my feet is getting tiresome. Once this is over, I _deserved_ my sleep. No doubt about that.

I felt two bullet-like punctures that hit me on the back. They weren't strong enough to pierce my skin, but it still hurt like hell. I turned back around towards him so that I was looking down... forward, whatever.

"Where do you think you're going?" Félix said in him monotone. "This battle is far from over. I haven't had this much challenge since my God took me under His divine wing."

_"I think saying something corny would not be wise from my part." _I growled and held my chokutō blade vertically facing down. "I thought fighting on the surface – or any kind of surface – would be a good change of scenery. If this keeps up, I might heave on you." I chuckled at my lame joke. Félix though didn't think it was funny and ferociously slammed the zanbatō on the rock wall. I raised my brow at that. _"That's new."_

After my little comment. The whole pit started to shake. A huge crack appeared where Félix hit the sword, rocks were falling from the top and I had to slash them away while dodging them. It was good thing the Priest also had to do that, though his intention about this is unknown to me at the moment. Maybe he did it to show his strenght? I know I would.

Once the underground earthquake was over. I glared back at my opponent who decided to charge head onto me. I knew that blocking those swings of his would do me no good. So I came up with a plan to just burn him into ashes.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" I exhaled another one of my fire release after my six hand seal and got a good show of seeing him engulfed by the reddish orange fire. That is until he dispersed it with the same invisible force and decked me in the chest. This time with that damned Axe Dial on his which again inflicted those meddling scars on my torso. "Goddammit!" I shouted and grabbed his free left hand and without hesitation twisted his carpal bones or wrist.

Félix shouted in pain and took a good distance away from me while nursing his hand. Like hell I'll give him time to recover. I ran towards him using short burst of chakra to power up my Body Flicker. The result was fast as I reappeared behind him with my chokutō held over my shoulder. In that short time, I felt that I landed a pretty solid hit on hit. Or so I thought if the tear of a skin I heard gave me any ideas.

I slowly turned around and saw the straight sword coated with crimson foreign blood. Turning around more, I saw Félix falling down towards me with a fountain of blood flowing out of his chest.

Sighing, I sealed my sword back in my seal tag and grabbed the falling Priest with wings and his heavy zanbatō whilst continuously strengtening my muscle. I felt it was about to tear, but there was no way in hell I'll let this guys death get into my conscious.

"What... are you doing?" Félix panted from my back. I had to carry him in a weird fireman carry while running up the pit towards the surface. "I've lost, just leave me."

"I ain't gonna drop your ass so zip it and lemme concentrate!" I shouted and could feel the chakra drain on me. Sometimes I wish I had more reservers on me than the actual chakra control. Or maybe not, I dunno.

"You don't understand!" He shouted from my ear. "I have failed Enel-sama! I have no reason to serve or live in the same lifetime as Him!"

I growled and smacked his face with the hilt of his sword in annoyance. "Shut! The hell! Up! You're not going Robin on me! I'm sick of that! You'll live, we'll both live and that's that! If your _God_ has problems with that, then I'll have to beat it into him!" Sure the man protested, but I managed to ignore him and focused on finding a safeplace. _"Where the hell is the hole?" _I kept running upwards while doing those hard labour called: dodge the falling rubble since I had my hands full at the moment.

"...I'm sorry." The freeloader sighed, this time fully letting his tears roll down. "This is all my fault. I shouldn't have destroyed the cave's vital structure to bury us down."

"Let me guess: for Enel's sake." He was about to open his mouth when I luckily beat him to it. "That was a rhetorical question, baka shinto." While running up, I noticed the same tunnel I saw when I first got here. The problem was that it was located on the other side of the huge pit in contrast to my current position. "This is going to be tough." I grunted and decided to use Shunshin with the few extra weights on me. I felt my speed picking up and had no trouble getting there while running horizontally. And just in right time too. If I had been second too late, we would've been paste by now. "Phew, that was close." I said and gently lied the Priest on the ground.

"Ezekiel," Félix said my name then first time since I introduced myself. "please, kill me."

"W-What?" I shouted while looking around at the dim lighting telling me that there's an exit nearby. "No, I'm not going to kill you! I had dozens of opportunities to kill you and yet here you are, talking with me." I stared at the giant cleaver for a second and turned back to Félix with narrow eyes. "There are questions I'd like to ask though. For instance: what the hell is with this cave! Jesus! It get's colder everytime I think about the word!"

He cuckled a bit and I had to resist the temptation to kick him around like a deflated football. "Do you know how deep we are at the moment?"

"No, please, enlighten me." I scowled, thinking wether I should patch him up or not. I decided with the latter since the hostility between us is gone.

"We're about 120 meters below the surface. The only exit here is that you follow this tunnel, but I can't quarantee a safe exit."

"Oh really." I forcefully tightened the bandages on his wrist and gave a pat on his bloodied bare torso in annoyance. "Guess _we'll_ have to find out, ne?"

"No," He said dejected and looked away. "I have noth-!"

I interrupted the bastard while pinching the bridge of my nose. "Finish that sentence and our next log shall be written in your blood." At least I got him to shut up and not sound like our angsty crew member. "Now, what were those invisible force you've been spamming onto me?"

Félix unclenched his hand and showed me a shiny, obsidian dial. I remember he took it just before I tended his wound on his chest. "It's called Panzer Dial, a defensive type of dial that is similar to Impact Dial in a larger scale. It works by absorbing the holders movement and release it by pressing the apex." He threw the shell at me with a weak grin. "I think you've deserved it, from one warrior to another."

"You sound like you're about to die." I scowled while staring at the dial in my hand. There's a lot of cool things you can do with this and a perfect gift for Dax. I hid the thing under my sky blue sash with a shrug.

"Enel-sama doesn't tolerate weaklings." He nodded as if that knowledge was a common thing. I guessed that was the reason for Enel to kill Shura or that he gets his kicks from killing his own men.

I shrugged though, thinking that once he gets beaten. Everything will be once again wonderful. "He's still a dick if you ask me." I grabbed the Priest and slumped his arm over my shoulder. Sure, he was prostesting, alot, but I managed and dragged the zanbatō with us. It wasn't that hard now as it was few minutes ago, weird, but I'm not going to question it.

Better not look a gift horse in the mouth.

* * *

><p>We walked a bit more and were still lost in this underground tunnel. It felt like it went on forever and ever. Thank goodness Zoro's not here, otherwise he would've lost himself on this one-way road no matter how ridiculous it sounds.<p>

"Oh, by the way." I suddenly asked after a long silent treatment I got from the moody Priest. "How were you able to scale the wall?"

Félix stared me for a while and made a sudden halt to pick something from the sole of his feet. He showed me the flattest dial I have ever seen. No wonder it went unnoticed by me. "This one's called Leim Dial..."

"Eew," I showed off my tongue. "...glue. No wonder I saw those clumps of white here and there." I shook my head at the absurdness of this. _"Must be a super glue or something... glue... a shell that releases glue... yuck."_

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

"You were able to breath fire and those punches of yours weren't normal." He said with his usual monotone while I was once again thinking about the my choice wether to tell him.

"I use another source of power from the Blue Sea my master taught me." I was glad he bought it as I was still unsure about it. My master did teach me how to use chakra to conjunct with my fighting skills and sleep problems, not the Naruto chakra where I had to mix two energies into one. He mostly used acupunctures and lots of spiritual discipline. _"Better think about this later too."_

"I want you to have these too." Félix said after another minute of silence and handed me the Glue Dials. "I have no use for these. You showed me the right path."

"I showed what now?"

"The path of goodness." He smiled and wiped the tears off with his bloodied bandages. "I have commited sins I cannot atone by actions alone."

"Is that so..."

"Hai, I only did what my God wanted. Never once have I thought about myself or my family." He looked down in sadness. "I abandoned my own family in the name of my God, thinking that through Him I can find peace." Félix shook his head. "Instead I only found a path of lies, corruption and death. Something I tried to avoid my whole life."

I could somewhat sympathize with him. He was like me when I was lost in my hatred for losing everything. Had I not met my master, I would've been like him: lost in my own self-pity. "You're right, you can't fix the problem you caused by a simple apologize."

"Then what should I do?" The ex-Priest asked with hopeful eyes.

"Well... for starters," I though about it. As a Priest of Enel, he won't be taken lightly once this is all over. They'll either banish him or plainly kill for his crimes. I can't let that happen out of goodness in my heart... or what's left of it. "you can help me by saving these people. I know Enel-teme plans on sending this whole place back from where it came from 400 years ago."

"No... He wouldn't...!"

"Oh yes he will... he's going to kill every single person living here just for his selfish need of showing the power of _God_." I smiled a bit when I saw a light at the end of this damned tunnel. "Yosh, time to get the hell out of here." I kept walking with the broody ex-Priest who was took shocked to do anything. Including severly injured.

"We must find Enel!" At least he took the honorific off. "This needless fight must stop!"

"You know where he is?" I raised my brow while looking around the ruins and clouds. Oh, and the huge beanstalk right in front of us.

"Hai, he's just below this section." I nodded and set the Priest down. "W-What are you doing?"

"You're in no shape to fight this Enel." I scowled. "I'm completely confused about the time here. Is it noon already?"

A flap of wings alerted me that something was coming towards us. Turning around with the zanbatō, I was greeted by Fuza landing in front of me. _"Greetings,"_ He looked at Félix and nodded in approval. _"I see you've completed the Ordeal, impressive." _

"Yeah Yeah..." I waved him off with a blush. "It was hard, no need to congratulate me."

"Fuza?" The ex-Priest stared at the bird. "I thought you were Shura's familiar."

"That's a long story." I nodded and pointed at him. "Fuza, take him somewhere safe. I have a date with a God."

The bird nodded, but Félix vigorously shook his head. "No, please! Let me fight! You've said it yourself that it's the only way to help these people and right my wrongs."

Of course I groaned at that. _"I better think about my choice of words in the future." _I sighed in defeat and helped the guy up. "Che, fine. I'll just use you as a meatshield if things go south."

"Thank you." He smiled a true smile as we both – and the zanbatō – mounted the bird who had no trouble picking us up.

_"What's with this sword?"_ I grumbled while leaning the huge sword against my shoulder. I thought about asking the owned, but decided not to bother him. He was in too much pain and something this untrivial would probably backfire on me like everything else today.

* * *

><p>We were now right near the Giant Jack and saw that the clouds around it was burned. Probably by Enel who destroyed the other cloud section holding the Ordeal of Iron.<p>

"So you guys know the plan?"

_"How could we not?"_ Fuza deadpanned. _"It's just a simple storm and destroy strategy..."_

I gently shook my head and jumped on the beanstalk where I then started to run down without chakra. Mainly because it increased my speed. The downside of it would be that the sword now weighted its usual weight and exponentially raised my speed to that of my Body Flicked without chakra thanks to gravity.

_"I see Enel..."_ I scowled seeing the Logia-user chilling on a ball of cloud. I also indentified the four dots by their chakra with the use of my Sharingan. I decided to surprise him by ramming the blade on his smug prick face. Right when I was close to him whilst running as stealthy as possible. I held the zanbatō pointed at his head with a grin. "Rakukoujin (Falling Steel Blade)"

**CRASH!**

I saw the guy vanished in a burst of lightning just in time to evade the attack I copied from Mega Man where I viciously ram the sword on a opponent. Now that I missed. I was surrounded by a huge dust cloud and walked towards the familiar four chakra signatures with a sigh.

"Oi, what the hell was that!" I heard Zoro shout and a few clicks of sword being unsheated.

"Dammit, I missed..." I walked out of the dust cloud with scowl and held the huge cleaver leaning on my shoulder. The thing weighted now its usual weight, but I was sure I had enough muscle mass to hold on to it without any unnecessary chakra leaking. "There goes my surprise, ass-slapage."

"You!" The survivors of Enel's little game exclaimed with wide eyes. I blinked at them: Zoro, Robin, Gan Fall, Wiper and Nami who peeked behind the ruins of Shandia. She looked at me with worry in her eyes, but quickly hid behind the wall with the unconscious Chopper in her arms.

"What about me?" I raised my brow and walked towards Zoro, Robin and Gan Fall. I was sure if I went near Wiper, he'd blast me with that bazooka of his.

"You look like shit." Zoro pointed at my trashed torso, arms, legs and face I saw by using the zanbatō's reflection. There was dried, crimson blood going down my face and few leaking from my mouth and nose. "What happened?"

"Dunno, fought two Priests and dozens of other cannon fodders." I rammed the sword on the ground with a sigh. "I swear, if I don't see a karmic balance here. I'm gonna cry."

"You defeated two of them?" Gan Fall asked in surprise. "That means you took out half of Enel's main forces yourself?"

"Not really." I rubbed the back of my head. "One of them died by accident and the other I left alive."

"What!" Wiped shouted at me and held the bazooka right in front of my face. I was impressed with myself. I didn't flinch a muscle. Mostly because it hurt to flinch. "You let one of _them_ alive!"

"I don't deal with meaningless deaths. He deserves a second chance just as much as everyone else." I ignored the bazooka and turned around to see Enel on another ball of cloud while watching us with that amused, lazy grin. "But you, you seem to have run out of those chances, Enel."

"Oh," Enel smiled, still amused with all of this. "I don't need chances. I am, after all, a God." He chuckled as if he just heard a good joke. "I was expecting you two the second you escaped the underground cave. My Mantra doesn't registered people who hide in there, so I sent two of my suborbinates to eliminate everyone there."

"Two?" Robin asked whilst staring at me. Just then, Fuza and the ex-Priest landed in front of us with the latter glaring at Enel.

"Enel..." Félix whispered, rage and hate aimed at the man he disowned as his god.

"Ah, Félix-kun. I see you had trouble with Ezekiel-kun. How unfortunate." Enel knows my name? How the hell di- oh, Mantra. And why is he using that suffix? I don't know him, literally. "Out of everyone, you were my favorite suborbinate." He pointed at us with his finger. We all tensed, thinking he'd start electrocuting us to death. "Prove your loyalty to me by correcting your mistake."

The ex-Priest growled. "The only mistake I see is you! For all my life I have sought for peace! By following you, I thought I'll find that peace for myself, but all it did was bring nothing but pain to other people seeking the same thing for everyone!"

I saw Wiper was about to aim his bazooka at Félix's exposed back. I grabbed the antitank weapon and re-directed it towards the cloud above us. "There's no need for that, ketsunoana."

Wiper looked pissed. And I mean _really_ pissed at that. "What was that, you Blue Sea scum?"

"You heard me. The guy deserves his second chance just as much as you." Wiped was about to counter that, but I managed to beat him down to it. "I know what you did, Wiper. You traded your people for revenge against that man for what? Greater good? Peace? Or maybe because you're stuck in the past to see the future. Your people needed you, but instead you just trampled over them in your quest for freeing this island with needless bloodshed." I let go of his bazooka and nodded seeing he wasn't targeting anything.

"But that's was the only way! " He tried to protest but I kept shaking my head at him. "I thought that they were all into this!"

"Misunderstanding arising from ignorance breeds fear, and fear remains the greatest enemy of peace." I turned around and stood in line who were now glaring at Enel. "They're all scared of you. You've been blindlessly dictating them into dying for one cause. Félix here tries to amend for his mistake and begs for another chance; even at the cost of his own life."

We turned back at the ex-Priest rants. "I refuse to see you as my God! You were supposed to show us the true meaning of peace, but instead blindsided us all into helping you creat chaos!"

Looking at Enel, I saw the guy was picking his ear with no care in the world. "So? I am God, fear is something that shows who's the true God here." He looked back at us, or in more particulary, at me. "As I said, I was expecting you two." Enel commented, ignoring Fuza who flew off. "I commend you for making it so far." We were all silent and glaring at the self-proclaimed God. "What's with those eyes? I was just having some fun. Three hours from the time you set out on this island, there will only be a handful of the 85 people remaining. That is the Survival Game. Including myself, of course."

Félix walked towards us with his sword now hoisted on his shoulder. "I'm sorry." He directed that mostly to Wiper and Gan Fall.

"Some joined later than others, but I have included them as well." Enel said, ignoring the former Priest who lined up with us. Probably thinking that he was also part of this game of his. "I predicted that there would be 7 survivors."

_"Seven? There's eight of us?"_ I thought with a frown. _"Me, Zoro, Robin, Gan Fall, Wiper, Nami, Félix and Enel himself. What is he planning?"_

"In three minutes, those three hours will expire. In other words, it cannot end with 8 people here. God's prophecy must come to pass. It is absolute." Enel looked at each of us now with intrested eyes. "Now then, who will disappear? Will you fight amongst yourselves? Or maybe I should pick one myself."

Zoro, who was currently holding two of his katana out of their sheet, asked me and Robin with a side glance. "What do you think?"

Robin closed her eyes with her hands on her hips. "I'm not up for it."

"My answer should be obvious." I grabbed Yamaoroshi from her hilt.

"That makes then three of us." Zoro nodded.

"I also refuse." Wiper said back in his usual hateful glare at Enel.

"I have made my decision." Gan Fall side glanced at us with a nod.

Félix slammed his zanbatō on the ground, creating a deep crater with it. "For freedom..."

We all turned around and stared at the ruin Nami was hiding. "Hey, hold on! I-!" Her answer took too long as we all raised our hands and weapons at Enel and said at the same time:

**"You will disappear."**

"Insolence." Enel smirked and started to laugh like a maniac. "You want me to disappear? That's rather funny. I can see how you surviced the game. But, you seven..." He grabbed his golden staff and conjucted it with electricity. "...do not seem to know whom you are addressing." He turned around from us with the ball of cloud and looked at the giant beanstalk with his arms wide as if to embrace his destined fate. "You do not yet know the meaning of the existence of God."

I saw his hands were charging up a massive amount of lightning. _"What the hell, what the hell..."_

"A decrepit old man whishing for the prosperity of Skypiea... A warrior intent on taking back his homeland at any cost... A traitor who tries to fix his mistake... and a couple of thieves from the Blue Sea after some gold." Enel shook his head in disappointment. "This world is full of problems. You lambs are free to yearn for anything you like. This land has always been wrong."

I saw Gan Fall's lance shaking. The old man seemed furious about something. "If you have the time to speak such nonsense, then tell me where my Enforcers are! What is it that you desire?"

"Ascension, Gan Fall." Enel said it as it was simple as the blue sky above us.

"Ascension?"

"Yes, when God Ascends, He returns to his rightful place."

"Returns? You mean to say that you are leaving Skypiea?"

Enel stood up from his spot, still with his back turned to us. "Yes, I have a place to which I will return. Within the sky island where I was born, God truly exists. People call it Fairy Vearth. Within it lies a boundless land to behold! It is truly the World of Dreams which I desire!" I had trouble not making fun of his stretched ear lobs. If I did, he'd no doubt kill me on the spot. "A land befitting to one such as myself: Fairy Vearth! Upper Yard is a tiny clump of Vearth not worth stealing. It's not even worth my time." Enel twirled the golden staff and pointed at all of us. "Understand that the cause of your bedeviled war lies deeper than you know...

...Think about it." He pointed the staff upwards to the skies. "It isn't a cloud, yet it was born into the sky. It isn't a bird, yet it lives in the sky." Enel slammed the staff on the ball of could, enveloping everything in a giant flash of light. "Lying in the sky, this very land itself leads and unnatural existence. The soil, the people and even God Himself have their own rightful places."

_"Even me?"_ I thought while trying to cover my eyes from the bright light. _"Do I have place like that?"_

"Yes, even you have one, Ezekiel-kun." I scowled at the nickname and prepared myself incase he spills out my secret. But, to be on the safe side...

"What are you talking about?" I asked, scowling as I did.

"Don't tell me you haven't thought about it?" Enel smirked with everyone now staring between me and him. "You're _his_ legacy. Don't tell me you don't know." He feigned a mock hurt while my scowl and anger increased ten fold. Hell, it made everyone on the line take a step back away from me.

"Know _what?_"

Enel blinked once, then twice and broke out laughing at my expense. That _really_ angered me to no end. He's just like them. All of them! "Yaaa ha ha ha ha ha! This is so rich. I can't believe he of all people would leave anyone behind the curtains." He let himself fall and landed on the ground cross-legged while giving me an amused stare. "Yes, I can see, you have those same eyes. Eyes that want nothing but power for their own gain."

"And how's that any different from your braindead of an idea?" I had to dodge a small lightning blast from Enel by taking a step back. Looking down, there was a scorched black stone that could've been my leg. "Okay, okay. Jeez..." I returned the scowl of his with a glare. "Continue."

That was a wrong thing to say to a megalomaniac Logia-user as he wagged his finger at me. "A God never takes orders from your people." My eyebrow twitched uncontrollably and I was about to charge head on when the giant zanbatō stopped me on my tracks.

"Control your anger, Ezekiel-kun." Félix told me with a stern voice while also glaring at Enel. "That's exactly what he wants. He manipulates people by using their own anger against themselves for his own advantage."

I took a deep, calming breath in my lung and let it out. "Hn, fine then." I gave Gan Fall a second of a glance. "I'll get my answers from you, right Oji-chan?"

"Sure." The old Knight nodded while I returned my katana pointed at Enel.

"You're no fun, Ezekiel-kun." Enel smirked and it seemed the former Priest was right. He was trying to resurface my anger. I should've know better. "Anyways, it is nothing to be so astounded about." He refered to his earlier speech about places. "As God, the laws of nature fall under my jurisdiction. Thus, I must enforce them." Enel's eyes widened and he let out a huge grin. "Yes, I shall rip every man, woman and child out of the sky!"

There were different reaction with me and – surprisingly, Zoro – stayed impassive. I didn't know what went through his mind, but I was sure he was controlling his anger on a whole different level than me. The ex-Priest was also furious, but managed to keep his cool unlike Gan Fall.

"You fiend! You intend to destroy this land!"

Enel closed his eyes and gave a light nod. "That is nature."

"You think too highly of yourself, Enel! ''God'' is merely the title given to the governor of this land!"

"Yes, until now that is." The Logia-user picked his ear. Gan Fall got mad and started to yelling some more.

"There is no God who lives in the world of man!"

"Former God, Gan Fall." Enel just chuckled in amusement. "You have been worried about your Enforcers, I believe." He began to explain what he did to the old mans suborbinates six years ago where the Enforcers ''came'' to serve him. Saying something about finishing a task he set for them and once that was done, he told them abiyt his true intention which of course set them on a riot and was ''killed'' by the lightning man.

"They had families on Angel Island!"

"Oh, that's right." Enel chuckled. "I must dispose of their families as well."

This time the old man went berserk and attacked Enel like a raging bull. "You Devil!"

"Gan Fall!" Félix shouted, unable to stop the old man like he did with me. I saw that he was rather beat up. How? He was on his prime _before_ we went into separate ways. I looked back at Enel who already threw the golden staff up and let Gan Fall pass right through him in his Logia-form of lightning.

"5,000,000... 10,000,000... 20,000,000 volt..." Enel had an ample amount of lightning just surging between his fingers. "vari!" Added with Gan Fall's metal armor, that has got to hurt like hell once the lightning struck the old man. 20,000,000 million volt, that's a f*ckton of voltage to jump like that from out of nowhere. Guess he broke Newton's law... bummer.

"Oji-chan!" I shouted, but knew I was helpless and not to mention too late to save the crazy old man. I hated being helpless and this was the second time this day. I've already spent lots of chakra in my fights and it was just a matter of time before I run out of it.

"There is a God in this world." Enel said as he watched the old Knight fall down in a heap of scorched human french fry. "I am He."

"It's his Goro Goro no Mi!" Félix exclaimed with anger. "Of all the abilities, it had to be the one which grants invincibility!"

"That's the power of lightning." Robin said in one of her moment of fear, knowing full well that we're outclassed here.

"And now," Enel said. "my preordained time has come to pass. There are now 7 survivors! I congratulate you for surviving!" He laughed some more. "Now, you will accompany me as I embark on my journey to the World of Dreams! You may all join me! I shall make it the undisputable Land of God! Only the chosen ones who stand here may live in that promised land!" I was pretty sure that he lost it there. "As for my followers..." Here he stared at Félix. "...at least those loyal to me who could not last the few hours of the Survival Game. Their presence would only pollute that holy land."

"And..." Robin gulped, not sure if she should ask the insane man anything. "And if we should refuse?"

"Robin!" Nami shouted from the ruin behind us. I completely forgot about her.

Enel started at our newest member in surprise. "Refuse? Why? I decided this. If you remain here, you will fall into the abyss along with this land."

"Indeed, you could do that with your power," Robin looked down, covering her eyes with her white cowgirl hat. "but if you meaninglessly destroy this land, the object which you have sought will also fall."

"Robin..." I warned her in a failed attempt to whisper at her. Looking back at Enel, he had that face kids have on Christmas Eve. "Crap... he already knows..."

"Ah, the Golden Bell?"

"Yes, the Golden Bell..." She nodded while still looking down.

"You need not to worry about it!" I facepalmed for her bringing this up and me forgetting about this whole event. My hand went all the way from my forehead to my jaw while brushing away the blood that had crusted around my forehead, and eyelid. "I have already accounted for that. When I think back on your movements, there is only one place it could be." Robin seemed to get that he knows the ''secret'' about the Golden Bell and let out a short gasp from her mouth. "I suspected that it is in the same place you deduced. How unexpected...

...Did you think that you could take advantage of me with that information?" Enel pointed his finger at her whilst charging up another attack. "How injudicious of you. I hate manipulative women." That said and not yet finished. Enel let out the massive electric surge straight towards Robin who looked like a deer in a headlights.

I used my Shunshin and reappeared right in front of the woman whom I'm supposed to be responsible per Sanji's pact. "At least we agree on something." I pushed the black, Panzer Dial's apex under my sash and felt like I was about to puke my intestines out when the force field – thanks to my Sharingan – appeared in front of us. All the motions I've been doing since I got the damn dial made a barrier of sorts that withheld Enel's attack. Once the few seconds of enduring, the pain was over, for now at least. My body twitched and fell on the ground where I began to puked up a lot of blood.

"Kuso, that hurt!" I coughed and wiped the new layer of blood from my jaw. I saw that Robin was crouching next to me, but was unsure if I needed her help or not. She eventually – after some thinking – helped me up by slunging my arm over her shoulder.

"Why?" She whispered while Enel was just looking at us with a raised, surprised brow. "Why did you do that?"

"Why not? I _am_ responsible for all of you." I took my arm back and retrieved the black dial from my sash. The problem with it was that the dial was smoking hot so I quickly threw that near its previous owned. "Great, a second degree burn..."

"So that's how you deflected it." Enel chuckled a bit insanely for my taste. "Panzer Dial."

"Panzer Dial?" Zoro raised his brow and turned towards me to see if I was okay. Or I hoped, if not, I'll kill him for being such an inconsiderate bastard.

"Correctly translated as Shield Dial." Wiper explained, something which I was thankful to him. "Capable of storing energy through movements alone and release it in a wide area for defensive purpose." Here though he stared at Félix with a vicious scowl. "An extremely rare dial though to be extinct. Where did you get it?"

"Now's not the time." I reminded him and swept my hair back with my own blood. "I think this is as good enough of a reason to begin. Though, we could've started this from the beginning. I don't know what prevented us from doing so."

"Are you alright?" The former Priest asked as he pocketed the obsidian dial.

"You could've told me about the recoil damage. I feel like I've popped an organ or two."

"Yaaa ha ha ha ha!" Enel laughed in mirth. "I'm amazed. You've been moving non-stop since I found you two with my Mantra."

"What is he talking about?" I – and no doubt everyone in the vicinity – heard Nami mumbling from her hiding spot.

"He means that I should've died. My whole system's gone haywire from that stunt alone." I grumbled and took off my shirt. That motion hurt my muscles, yes, but I also felt a bit of my chakra returning. It was weird, but I ain't gonna interrogate it and sealed the katana in my seal tag. Using metal on this guy was near suicide or something you should let Zoro's dumbskull handle.

"What's the plan?" The santoryu swordsman asked. "I hate to say it, but this does not look good."

"Have a little faith." I answered with my frown and made nine fast hand seal with Enel still looking at us with a barely noticeable intrest. Twelve seconds later of glaring at each other, my right hand was surrounded with a large amount of chirping lightning chakra. "So, Enel."

"Yes?" He stared at my hand while readying his golden staff by twirling it.

"You call yourself a God?" The other four got into their respective stances the second they head the thousand bird chirping.

"Indeed I do."

The Chidori in my hand exploded as I gave Enel a death glare with my left eye alone that held the three magatamas. Like the one on Enel's drums attached to his back.

"I will skin you **alive**."

* * *

><p><strong>[To Be Continued]<strong>

* * *

><p>Thanks for all the positive reviews! I expected more, but you can't have everything... unless you're rich – something I'm currently doubting about FF readersauthors – then you can have everything this world has to offer. Because seriously, if we were rich then why not buy One Piece and change it to whatever you want it to be?

I'm still disappointed with the fight scene, but promise to make this next one special that'll knock you out. Or at least knocks someone out for a while.

Baka shinto – stupid priest

Ketsunoana – asshole

Kuso – shit

Panzer Dial – Shield Dial (Hope that's right... either that or Armor Dial)

Leim Dial – Glue Dial

That's that then, leave a **review** and save a puppy.


	54. Ezekiel & Co vs Enel

**Chapter 54: Ezekiel & Co. vs. Enel**

**Disclaimer: A cheerful rooster makes a great bacon sandwich.**

* * *

><p>Enel just kept laughing at us. It irritated me to no end and I've decided then and there that I'll drive this ball of chirping lightning down his throat.<p>

"You want to attack me with my own element?" Enel asked whilst chuckling behind his hand. "The fire against fire thing won't work on me. I _am_ lightning."

"We'll see about that!" I growled and used my Body Flicker to appeared behind him in a flicker of red flames. I was just about to slice his head clean off when the guy vanished in a brilliant feet of speed and held his hand on my torso. Luckily Félix severed said hand before the self-proclaimed God electocuted me to death. The former Priest's attack of course passed through him, but that was enough time for Zoro to decapitate him and give me more time to back off.

Wiper, not one to be left out, aimed his Burn Bazooka and firered the hot blue fire at Enel. We all looked at the damage done, but were of course frustated to see him gathering himself with that damned Logia.

_"Dammit, I don't see any intervals much less a weakness on him."_ I calmed myself by taking a deep breath. I've been a lot more angrier and tempremental than usual. Gotta calm down. _"He's much faster than me and by the looks of it. He's just toying with us."_

"Any plans, Ezekiel-kun?" Félix inquired and hoisted his zanbatō on his shoulder. I knew that whispering to each other would be useless as the fake God with Devil Fruit can hear us.

I gently closed my left eye for a moment to take a breather. That eye leaks way too much chakra to be used on regular bases. I gave the giant snake a second of stare and nodded. "Try blindsiding him with me using myself as a distraction. Logia-users are useless without the right reflex to switch on and off of their element." I was a bit proud of myself. I haven't had the Chidori available for this long and I'm not that much winded as I first thought. _"I should take my shirt off more regularly."_

"If you say so," Wiped grinned and aimed his bazooka at Enel. I opened my left eye again and could somewhat _see_ Enel move in a short, bursts of lightning towards Zoro. I used my Body Flicker to get to the swordsman and tackled him out of the way before he was knocked around with Enel's golden bo staff. Zoro payed no mind to me pushing him and changed at Enel with his two swords.

Félix was also ready as the former Priest tried to severe his legs while I went for the head. Despite our teamwork, the attacks went past the intangible Enel. Even Robin's attemps of breaking his neck were nullified by the Logia-user's electric discharge, leaving her in pain.

The lightning ball in my hand is pretty much a compressed lightning chakra that can cut throught chakra, not lightning itself. Unless I add more chakra and refine my control, maybe then I could cut him files... maybe... maybe not. I'm already on my last ones.

I was about to attack Enel again, but was beat to it by him appearing in front of me and sent a glowing, azure lightning fist straight at my forehead. The shock went through my head, spine and thoroughly all over my body as I was sent flying on a nearby ruin. Thank God – not – I didn't crash into it, but that was the least of my worries now. Including the chirping lightning in my hand that seemingly vanished into thin air.

Looking at Enel, I saw he was scowling at me. "You seem to know a lot more than I gave you credit for..." His scowl turned into a lopsided grin whilst everyone were looking at my form just lying there, unmoving, probably thinking that I died.

_"What the hell did he do to me?"_ I thought furiously and felt my body moving everywhere else despite the commands I gave to it.

"Yaaa ha ha ha ha!" Enel laughed and I was just pissed for him to do that. "You possess talent. You all possess talent, but little Ezekiel-kun here has even more. Perhaps more than _that_ man." I'm still confused about who he was talking about. I don't know the guy, I only know everyone here because of the damn anime. "That's beside the point though. The point is that you, Ezekiel-kun, are dangerous."

"Dangerous? Him?" Zoro kept looking between me and Enel with vary eyes. He seemed unsure about that... well, considering every retarded things I've did so far, I don't blame him. "Sure he's a sadistic terrorist with a thing for explosions, but he's far from dangerous..."

_"Bastard..."_ I cursed the swordsman in my head.

"That's not what I meant." Enel frowned, if ever so slightly. "It has been prophesied that people with unnatural powers has been granted the responsibility to guard the very key to Hell itself."

There he goes again. Hell, key, what next? Towering pillar of stone that rises towards the skies and links this existence into another one. Like that'll happen.

"What?" Félix shouted/asked with wide eyes. "Enel, you know just as much as I do that if he's the one then we'd all be dead by now! This whole existence would collapse upon itself!"

_"The hell are you lot talking about!" _I wanted to scream, protest, anything. Why can't I do that? It's like I forgot the ability to talk and move my body.

"That may be true..." Enel grinned. "I could kill you right here and now, but... the workings of such complicated ancient weapon is unknown and would perhaps triggers itself without a container."

_"Great, now he makes me think I'm a jinchuuriki."_ Instead of my eyebrow twitching, my teeth began to grit.

"The Key of Tartarus?" Robin asked, also wide eyed with surprise and disbelief. "You know where _that _is?" She inquired me and I would've answered had I not collapsed on my knees with my arms slumped beside me.

"He can't answer you at the moment." Enel said and let Zoro slash him without letting that shit eating grin go anywhere. He held out his fist and showed the small spark of lightning coursing through his hand. "Its amazing what you can do with electricity..."

"What did he do?" Wiper asked around, but I could tell that he aimed that question towards Félix who was currently gritting his teeth. What annoyed me was that they were talking like I wasn't here. It annoys and angers me when people do that.

"He severed the signals on his body and deranged Ezekiel-kun's body control." The former Priest explained as I tried to regain the control on my body back and ignored Enel's chuckle. "His body moves in any way, except how he want's it to move. Walking, much less fighting with us will be near impossible. Enel uses this to usually incapacitate his victims." Félix looked at me with worry and slight panic with a bit of fear. I was still confused. What's that Tartarus thing? Is it that weird box in my head or what?

_"I haven't been this confused since the Spice Girls slipt up." _I mentally sighed and tried to twist my head to my right hand, only for the left knee to twitch against the rocky floor. _"This is like the fight with Tsunade and Kabuto with the latter getting back handed by the old woman." _I groaned when the thought of me relearning my body functions entered my mind. I knew this was _not_ an easy task as it takes high amount of concentration and intelligence. Something which I lack considering that we're dealing with human anatomy.

I saw Zoro got mad and charged yet again at Enel only for him to block the two katanas with his golden staff. Enel complimented Zoro's swordmanship which got him even madder and tried to slice him. This time Enel lazily jumped over the other sword attack that left him in mid-air for Wiper to burn the fake God into ashes with the blue fire.

Enel, still in mid-air, grinned and heated the air around him with his Kari technique. There was a loud thunderclap that neutralized the non-material attack into wisps of fire. I felt there was also a bit of electricity going around the place and used it with my chakra to get my body back in running. The other option would be that I use the Chidori – which lies now dormant thanks to my chakra control – in my body for about few more minutes.

_"Nah, maybe later."_

I saw Felix charging at Enel with the zanbatō over his shoulder and slammed it against the ruin, sending a buzzsaw of shockwave towards his traitorous God. Enel sidestepped the attack with ease, which completely destoyed the ruin house behind him and left Félix winded from the attack.

"I-Impossible!" Wiped stared at Enel wide eyed. "He extinguished the fire of the bazooka!" I lightly scoffed at that and mentally smiled knowing that my vocal cords were still intact.

_"If I had my chakra _and_ my body back. I could've burnt this place down."_ My right index finger twitched when I tried to grin. It was safe to assume that this will take some more time than I first thought.

"So you still do not understand." Enel chuckled with his back turned towards us once he landed on one the tempel's stair. "All the power you can muster is negligble to me."

I felt fear and panic overwhelm Nami who was hiding a bit further away from me. She was talking to herself – or to the audience of this show – about how powerful the guy is. I'd say he's just a big pancy who got lucky choosing his current Devil Fruit power.

An idea got to me, but for that to happen I need her help. The problem was that I _could _somewhattalk a bit for light communication, so she might not necessarily understand what I'm talking about. "N-N-N-a..mi.." At least I got her attention by stuttering her name. God that was embarassing. "Mois-the-ai-arou-me" It sounded pretty weak and it seemed that my message didn't go through her. It was either that or she was too scared.

"W-What?" I could've facepalmed had I had my arms available. "We can't win this. We wouldn't stand a chance against him." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, if only to stop my elbow slamming onto my ribs every time I did that. What I wanted her to do, was for her, to use those Clima Tacts, and humidify the air around me. That should at least weaken the electricity on my skin and with that through my body. But no, she was too afraid to do that.

_"Why is everyone who's not me such a problem."_ I wagged my left thumb so I could shake my head. I remember some of my body functions, but not all of them. So the only way for this to work is to counter it with my own lightning chakra.

Assuming it won't fry my nerves off as I knew that it _will_ hurt.

After putting up some effort with my new thought plan. I felt that the electric discharge in my body was slowly decreasing. I slowly stood up, made a few routine check-up on my body and ran towards Enel this time without Killing Intent so that his Mantra-ability would go down a peg or two. He seemed to notice me and effortlessly dodge my jump kick by bending backwards.

"It looks like Ezekiel-kun is back in the play." Enel chuckled. His powers got to his head and I would love to beat that attitude out of him. That would bring back some memories. Good and bad.

"Well, that was fast." Félix blinked in surprise and turned back to Enel. "How were you able to negate the effect?" I slowly turned my head with a deadpan expression. "You can't talk can you?"

_"Yeah..."_ I nodded my head. Now I can't tell them anything, and it was a good thing too. Those looks Robin gave me were slightly unnerving. _"What the hell does she want anyway? I'm as much confused as everyone else here."_ Speaking of unnerving looks. I was mad for Enel putting me in such light and charged again without my Body Flicker. He looked a bit confused, but eventually grinned and dodged my every move with that Mantra of his.

The problem with his Mantra is that it's superior to those Priests I've encountered. Probably because of the Goro Goro fruit, amplifying it to near omniscient level.

In short: my Sharingan's useless. Again.

Once I was close to the bastard. I tried to deck his smug face with my right fist only for the guy to duck in that lazy manner of his. I was pissed, he was just toying with me. Instead of using his Devil Fruit powers, he dodges it like an annoying hay dust on summer.

I decided on a different aproach and ran to the left where I'll attack his blindspot. I know it won't work, but I was running out of options. Looking back at Enel, I saw the guy vanishing in a blur of lightning and appeared right beside me while giving me a amused look. I paniced and instantly changed direction back towards I came from. The guy made the same trick, this time appearing right in front of me whilst running. It was getting highly annoying as I made another turn and came up with a plan to scale the ruin horizontally with chakra.

Enel probably thought this as a game and again reappeared behind me, also scaling the ruin wall while running. I jumped from my position and glided in mid-air where I tried to search for Enel only for him to came back to haunt me right behind my back.

"You think you can out run me?" Enel asked mockingly. I growled and made an outwards swipe with my left hand. Seeing the guy disappear, I landed on the ground by twisting my body so as to not crash into it. My Sharingan picked up another trail of small lightning surge in the air. Without any hesitation on my part, I sent a high kick to it. What made my blood boil was that Enel lazily stood on my outstretched leg with that ridiculing smile. "I don't think so."

_"Shit the guy's fast!"_ I retracted my leg and back flipped away. _"Guess it's true after all: you can't out-run lightning. It will hit you."_ Once I was done whatever the hell I was doing few seconds ago. The other guys attacked Enel with no result on their part. _"This won't get us nowhere." _I grumbled, or would've had I had my vocal cords in function.

"Just when we were about to set out for Fairy Vearth together." Enel chuckled. "There's no need to get so violent."

Zoro readied his two katanas. "And who do you think you're taking there?" He was mad, that much I can tell. That or I guessed because he charged at Enel like a wild bull. "I don't give a damn about your World of Dreams!" Even though Nami yelled for him to stop. Enel made a quick work of the swordsman and viciously stomped on his head.

I briefly looked around and couldn't spot Félix. There was his sword... near a pile of ruins. I closed my eyes in frustation. _"How did I miss that?" _Enel now looked at me and much to my own fear, pointed his finger with that mocking smile of his.

"A word of advice, Ezekiel-kun." Enel said and kept charging a tremendous amount of lightning in his finger. He then clenched the whole hand with the lightning and to our horrid, produced some sort of a spear of yellow electricity from either side of his clenched fist. "A good leader, never takes his eyes of his opponent. Zeus." He said and threw the lightning spear straight towards me. That thing was way too fast for me to dodge and hit me right through the chest. It wasn't done there as it stuck on my body and electocuted me from inside out.

"!"

I shouted in pain because that hurt like hell. Once it was over, I was on my knees and could see the trail of smoke escaping from my mouth. _"Did I just get impaled by lightning?"_ I thought and looked at my chest. There wasn't any puncture mark indicating that I _was_ impaled. _"It must've be because Enel can't manipulate lightning like I do with my shape transformation. He just uses brute force instead."_

Though, the worst was that I was now out of commission. The next one to go down was Robin, who fortunately received a much less punishement than I did. Leaving her unconscious for the moment. I looked back at the fight and just witnessed Wiper using those Kairoseki skates on Enel. The guy then set his bandaged right hand on Enel's chest.

They talked a bit, I couldn't decipher what but it ended with Enel being hit with a tremendous force right after Zoro got out of Enel's clutches. There was a quick shout of ''Reject'' from Wiper and that was when I realized that the guy literally messed up his whole arm.

And that Enel's still alive.

The problem here, again, was that my cords were still messed up and couldn't move nor warn the guys. I grabbed whatever stone rubbel was on the ground and dragged myself to where Enel was. It was also in that time when Nami aproached me.

"Ezekiel-kun!" She shouted and had her hand hovering above me. I ignored her, the bastard was still alive. "Don't move! You're injured!"

_"I don't care, I want this guy dead!"_ I shouted in my mind. Nami gave me a one good look and seeing that I won't be moving much from my position, she went over to Robin and Gan Fall. A light of azure lightning made me stop and stare at the supine Enel in shock. _"What are you staring at! He's jump starting his heart!"_ Of all times, I had to be temporarily mute and crippled. Although I didn't expect Enel to get up this fast, it was still our only chance to end this.

I saw Wiper fall on his knees and clutching his right arm in pain. If I remember correctly, this was his first time using that Reject Dial. He was fine after he used on Shura, then why's he injured like that? Did the Dial inflict more damage on him?

I stared at Enel and gritted my teeth in frustation. "People do not feat God," Enel said with a dark look as he wiped the smudge of blood from the corner of his mouth. "fear itself is God."

_"This is getting worse by the minute. If Luffy doesn't get here..."_ I closed my eyes while ignoring Wiper's rant about his and this place's past. _"...rubber... natural insulator... of all times..." _I just saw Enel swipe the Shandians legs and skates with the golden bo staff. The Jet Dial's bust, but the Kairoseki stones still intanct. I could use those, yes, but I'm nearly out of chakra myself and beat up from my previous fights.

The next to go down was the Shandian warrior when Enel's drum ''transformed'' into a lightning bird and electrocuted him. That was enough to get me standing up despite my body protesting it. I saw Zoro ran towards the Kairoseki stone and back to Enel. I got the message from the swordsman and re-started the Chidori I kept surging in my body for awhile now.

It really helped me get my body back the way it used to, but I _really _need to work on that. It nearly fried my liver into molted meat.

Enel sighed at me and Zoro. "You too, Blue Sea warriors?" He tapped his left drum near his shoulder and ''threw'' a lightning tiger at us. I was surprised, that bastard Zoro tackled me to the side and took the attack head on.

_"Shit."_ I cursed seeing Zoro being electrocuted. I was mad what the stupid swordsman did. Infact, I was so mad I shouted and reared the chirping lightning ball in my hand where I aimed it straight towards Enel's chest. There was a huge, bright light engulfing the area next to a big explosion and I felt that I _hit_ something on my anger blinded attack. Now that I think about it, the Chidori got a bit more bluish instead of its usual white.

**BOOM!**

The next thing I knew was that I had my back facing to Enel with my now bloodied arm outstreched forward. I slowly turned my head over my shoulder to see Enel giving me a death glare. I didn't know why, but the answer was probably because of the small cut on the left side of his chest.

"Did I just cut through lightning?" I asked, not really caring that I got my voice back. It wasn't much, but that was something I need to look at once this is over.

That is, if I'll survive.

"That little trick of yours just forfeited your life." Enel snarled and held his left hand towards me. "I do not care if you're the boy who's picked up from a line and ordered to hold onto the artifact said to unleash a new kind of hell upon us." He scowled and in a blink of an eye. Multiple of those annoying golden spears where hovering above Enel. "But damaging a God is punishable by death. Ame no Zeus (Rain of Fortune)"

I took a deep breath and made a small, mocking smile at Enel. _"At least I learned a cool trick by watching his attacks."_ I thought and ignored the immence heat surrounding my body after making the tiger seal. Enel's attack hit me on every part of my body and this time it was much more worse than the one hit I took earlier.

**BOOM!**** CRASH!**

The attack and the shockwave sent me crashing into a huge ruin tempel where it buried me underneath a massive stone rubble. I knew I wasted a lot of chakra with that last stunt where I tried to re-create the thunderclap thing Enel did. It wasn't a success, but was enough to protect me.

_"Who knew that heating air is much more harder than it sounds."_ I felt I was slowly loosing conscious. _"Nami and the other's will be alright. I think... they won't mind me taking... a small nap..."_ My eyes lids felt heavy and I yawned despite the pain coursing my body. Not that I knew whether it was dark. Either that or there was darkness all around me. I wonder why. _"10 more minutes, then I'll kick Enel's ass."_

* * *

><p>|Flashback, 10 year ago|<p>

* * *

><p>After we left the dojo and got a minor medical treatment from this tomboy walking beside me. We left the dojo with her studying the surrounding. I'm used to walking home <em>alone<em>, not in the company of another human being beside my father. Or the annoying twins who once visited me. Speaking of them, their living now with our Uncle in north about few dozens of kilometers away. At least they don't have to see me moping around.

_"This... girl..."_ I kept giving this weird red-haired girl suspicious side glances. No one has offered to help me and now this... Susan... here, want's to help? Why? No one does that. Not even my father.

"Something wrong?" She asked, also giving me a side glance. We were now walking the side of a street with cars driving to and fro. There were dozens of yellow/red houses, row house and block of flats miling around. The area was mostly peaceful, but to me it was like a battlefield. The people were mean, annoying and plainly stupid. Something I dislike with great entity.

What made it worse was that I never knew why. Why were these people bothering me? Was it because I looked different? Did they not like me? The feeling was mutual so it couldn't be that.

I shook my head from side to side and felt the wind flowing past my head. It was really refreshing now that I've had a haircut. The shorter haircut made me look a bit formal seeing as it was my father who yelled/ordered me to. He made me look like one of his marine goons whom I hated. Not that it was difficult since I hated nearly everything.

"No," I replied to her while thinking about whether I should let her fully escort me. "it's nothing." The last part was to myself. I was currently eight years old and pretty mature in constrast to those of my age or slightly older. I personally blamed the genes and yes, I know what those are.

"C'mon." Susan ruffled my hair. "There's got to be something on that cute head. Beside empty air that is."

I growled and tried to swat the hand off but the girl proved to be much more reflexive than I gave her credit for as she took her hand back with a smile. "When do we meet this master?"

She giggled. "Eager are we? That's good."

"How's that _good_?" I asked with a raised left eyebrow, wondering what she was talking about.

"He's had eyes on you for quite a while now."

I stopped in my tracks and gave her a bewildered look. "You know, I could sue the old man and be rich after the trial-."

**BAM!**

Susan hit me in the head with a angry look. I didn't know what her problem was. If a old man looks at me that's a crime... in my standards. I don't like people looking at me. Attentions are for small, dumb children.

"That's not what I meant. I heard that he's taking on apprentice. There's a good chance that he'll pick you."

"Why me?" I gently rubbed my head and kept walking while wondering what's with the girl. "I don't deserve that kind of attention." I sighed, this time I looked down on the dusty asphalt walkway. _"I don't deserve any kind of attention."_

"Well, you have my vote." Susan said. "Seniors get to vouch for their younger, potential students and I'd say that you deserve that. I've seen you training." I looked at her in anticipation. "You never gave up despite the harsh and unfair treatment you got from your peers. And the teacher." She said the last part with a scowl that somewhat unnerved me. "What the master is looking for in his apprentice is the will to never give up."

I deadpanned at her. _"Where have I heard that?"_ A ninja wearing orange appeared on my mind, I quickly shook my head to get rid of that. _"I'm watching too much anime..."_ I chuckled and looked at the older girl with a small smile. "Thank you."

She gave me a confused look. "For what?"

"For giving me something to look forward. Even if it's for a day."

"You're one weird kid, you know that?"

I gave her another deadpan expression. _"Why do I this weird feeling that's not the first time I'll hear that phrase."_

* * *

><p>That day went by fast. Once Susan escorted me back to my place. Father gave me a look at the bandages but said nothing and let me in. He and the red-haired girl talked for about two seconds where he then shut the door with force in front of her.<p>

I sighed at his rudeness to other people. That's what you get when you engage in a small talk with a Sergeant Major from the Marine corps. I usually copy his behavior, facial expression, things people my age do. His facial countenance consist of an emotionless mask he used the second mother died.

Usually it's a professional thing of his that he uses on his suborbinates. That includes me as I am his son.

Maybe that's why I don't have friends...

I glared at the older man who looked nothing like me. I wondered if we're even related. The older male glared back at me with those narrow, emotionless eyes. I flinched from his gaze and ran up-stairs towards my bedroom while ignoring the uncomfortable bruises on my torso.

It made sleeping much harder.

* * *

><p><em>"I hate grade school..."<em> I kept walking around the school with a frown that got those pesky kids out of my personal space. They were like the rest of those adults who gave me shifty looks. As if they were better than me. _"I'll show them... I'll show them all..."_ My anger swelled up and I looked down at my current attire consiting of dark blue shirt and black pants. Nothing unusual as all my clothes were dark, almost borderline goth without the piercing and make-up.

"Ezekiel!" A voice called out to me. I turned my head and looked at the blond-haired guy with green eyes sporting a light green shirt and khaki pants. He was one of those few who despite my ''intimidating'' apperance had enough balls to approach me much less shout out my name to public.

Normally I would've beat the crap out of anyone who did that.

"What is it, Kevin?" I stared at him with that same stare I picked up from my father.

"Ah, don't give that look." He dusted his pants to get rid of the sand with a uncomfortable look. Probably got it from the sand box he's been playing at. "You need to lighten up. You won't get any friends with that attitude."

"I don't need friends, they'll just slow me down." I said with closed eyes as I picked up my backpack. The reason I don't want friends is that I have trust issues. For me to trust someone, you have to do something selfless, something these people lack. Something we _all _lack, including me as these people don't deserve my trust.

"Hehehe, yeah, uhm... I was wondering if you want to hang out with us." Kevin scratched the back of his head in a sheepish manner

I raised my brow at him. Something which I've been doing a lot since I me Susan. "Us? As in more people than two?"

"Yeah, me and three other friends said that they wanted to meet you."

I scowled. _"That sounds a bit suspicious. People normally avoid me like the plague."_ I thought while staring at the blond boy. "I... have training later and promised that I'll arrive there early." I didn't bother to apologize. I still don't trust the guy.

"Aw man," He pouted childlishly. "can't you ditch them?"

"No." That said, I turned around and walked out of the school area towards the dojo. I took the path through a small forest just in case those school bullies were waiting for me. Like every other day.

It took me awhile to get to the dojo with my custom path. Looking at the clock, it showed that the time was 3:45PM. Which means that I'm fifteen minutes earlier than I should be. Might as well wander around and kill some time.

The place was rather empty. It made me relax knowing that there won't be any people to bother me for couple of minutes. Regardless of my age, I loved peace and tranquility. It was a trait I got from my mother during one of my father's rants. Living with him isn't like a walk around the park. I once caught him saying that it was Eve and Zoe's fault for her untimely death. He didn't pay them much attention to them so I took it upon myself to look after them. Even if they live on the other side of the city with our late mothers brother.

The reason I stayed here was because of school and the dojo. Once those two are done, I'll move to north and turn my back to these guys.

I shook my head. The past is in the past and I'll be damned to think about it again. Once I got over it, I walked towards the wooden floor and bowed to it. It was customary around here. Something I grew up with during my two year stay. The walls were also made out of wood, but the japanese kanji on it were still a mystery to me.

"I don't even know if those really _are_ japanese literature. They look more like ruins from a lame anime..." I deadpanned and decided to stare at those old black and white photos on the glass shelf. I picked up one of those old, dusty photo of an middle aged japanese man. "Kobayashi Taiki, born in 1860... died 1977!" My eyes wideded in surprise. That guy lived 117 years, kudos to him. Not many want to live that much. Not me, I don't want to live my last few years through a tube.

I gently wiped the trail of dust around the photo and set it back near the old trophies. I picked another one that looked exactly like the previous picture. I skipped the name part as I wanted to see how long did this guy lasted. What I noticed though was that weird smile that seemed a tad bit too enigmatic for my taste. It was odd, a man who looked to be in his early twenties held so much wisdom in his eyes. It was unreal.

"Let's see... born in 18-."

"I spy with my little eyes, something beginning with an I." A voice cut me out and I quickly whirled around to look at the old man who snuck up on me. "And by ''I'', I meant Intruder."

_"I didn't even hear him!"_ I mentally scolded myself for letting my guard down. The old man chuckled, not intiminated by my stance as I was ready to either flee or fight. Though, I wasn't sure why. The old man rubs me the wrong way.

"Bend your knees more and hold the left arm closer to your body." He instructed with a cryptic smile that seemed a bit familiar. The old man blinked and looked at the photo in my arm. "Oh, I see. You don't want to drop the photo of my _ancestor._" I scowled, ignored his emphasize and set the photo back where I took it. Once that was done, I resumed my stance and followed his instruction. "Good." He grinned a malicious yet a playful grin that put me on edge.

"Wha-!" He didn't let me finish as the old man attacked me. Like really attacked me with a menacing feeling. I was petrified and saw he tried to knee my head while using my smaller size to his advantage. I braced myself and recalled a time when I once watched the adults practice about two months ago. It was a lesson where the defender is down on his knee and is about be attacked. Right when the old man was close to me, I took a quick step forward and let him hit me in the shoulder instead of my head. "Gah!" I grunted and managed to get a grip on that leg that felt slightly more developed for someone his age.

Now that I had his right leg in a wide armed grip. I tried to twist it so that I could beat him on the floor and reduce the disadvantage on me. "You're good," he complimented. "but you've got a long way ahead of you, Ezekiel."

I was startled, not only did he espace my nearly finished lock but he knew my name. _"What is he?"_ I asked myself seeing the old man effortlessly grabbing my arm and held it over my head. I growled at him. He was much taller than me. Not that anyone can be shorter than 4 foot in his age. I guessed he was about two more foot taller, give or take a few inch.

I tried a different tactic and used the hand he held my arm to propel myself up. The old man saw this and let go of the hand and took a step back with a pleased grin. "Not bad for a squirt." A tick mark appeared on my head and I was about to attack him again had not Susan dropped by.

"Ezekiel!" the red-haired girl shouted and grabbed the nape of my neck where she then slammed it on the hardwood floor of the dojo. Once the ringing of my head left my, I saw we were both bowing to the old man chuckling at us. "I'm so sorry for his rudeness, master!"

"Master! That old man!" I shouted and felt humiliated to the core after I got out of the girls grip. _"Next time I'll break his hip. We'll see who laughs then."_

"What was that shrimp?" The master said with that cryptic smile, as if he knew about my plan to hospitalise him.

"Nothing." I grumbled while still being held in a vice grip by Susan incase I do something that could potentially kill the old man. "Let me go you bothersome girl! You nearly severed my head with that stunt!"

"You insulted the master!" Susan shouted once she let go of my my neck. "Be lucky I don't rip those tiny balls of yours!"

"What was that you flat-chested witch!" Our heads clashed with each other and I could've sworn I just saw a small stream of lightning clashing between us. Weird... I need to sleep more...

A chuckled alerted us that the old man was laughing at us. I ignored Susan and glared at the master like he just commited a crime. Like attacking a child no older than 10. He sat down cross-legged in front of us and gave me a playful smile. "I'm sorry for the minor... inconvenience."

"Yeah right, I should sue your old ass back to retirement house you crazy old mon-." I snarled and received a swipe to the back of my head. Not from Susan, but from the old man who ''mysteriously'' had a walking cane in his hands. "When did yo-."

I was interrupted again by the old man. "I said I was sorry. There's no need to guilt trip me."

"Feh, fine then." I grumbled and crossed my arms over my chest. "I wanted to talk to you about-."

I was rudely interrupted, again, by the old dojo master. It was getting annoying but let it slide knowing that he – or Susan – might attack me. "The unjustness dealt to your person. I am sorry for that too and I promise to make it up to you."

I raised my brow at him. Something the old man thought was funny. "I swear, if you do this out of pity..."

"Oh, no no no no no." He held his hand in a placating fashion. "I've seen how hard you work. It amazed me to no end seeing a boy so young yet full of life. Reminds me of myself when I was your age."

"And that was when, eons ago?" me and Susan deadpanned at the old man. I looked at Susan with a confused stare, but let it be once I knew that the girl will murder me if asked the wrong question. Like every other girl from different cartoons and OR animes. I shook my head again and felt a light headache coming to me.

"More or less..." The master chuckled behind his hand. Now that I had a closer look. He was an old japanese guy with semi-long silver beard and bald head. His eyebrow was also silver and yet much longer than anyone else I've ever seen. I couldn't guess his age, but could peg him being around his mid fifties and mid sixties. Not many people of his age can perform that stunt he made few minutes ago much less walk after that.

His attire consited of an plain red adidas pants, white t-shirt and strolled around the dojo in bare foot. A pretty odd choice considering his age. I always thought old people liked to dress formally, but not this guy. He was different: weird, kind, senile and likes to attack younger people. To be fair, all people want to beat up their youngers. That's how I was raised.

And probably the way _he _was raised too.

"Uhm, master." Susan fidgeted a bit in her spot on the wooden floor. Mostly because she was sitting like those japanese women performing a tea ceremony. Looks pretty agonizing to me. "Weren't you supposed to choose your apprentice today?"

He looked shocked, something I found was extremely hilarious if anything. "Great Scott you're right! How could I have forgotten?"

"Because you're old." I pointed out and received two smacks from the other two dojo residents. _"What's with people nowadays? You tell them something and get you get beat up for it."_

"Oh my, if I don't find an apprentice by tommorow. I'll be the laughing stock of whole Northern Japan!" The old man stroke his beard in thought. "I need someone young. Someone with an unrivaled willpower and determination." He then looked at me with that ever present cryptic smile that just screamed at me to run lest I'll get into more trouble than I already am. "Someone like you, Ezekiel-kun."

I ignored the ''kun'' in his word and put that as something irrelevant. "Me? I-I can't do that!" I stuttered, something I haven't done once I saw how cruel the other kids can be about it. "I was here like what? Two years and you want me as your apprentice?"

"Pretty much." He smiled and patted me on the head. This time I didn't make any effort to swipe it off as it felt... nice, warm and like something was being poured into my brain. Maybe because I felt accepted or that he was perhaps the only one I can relate to. He seemed to understand me. "I know potential when I see one. You also have a good heart under that rock hard layer you've used to push people away."

"That's because those pricks deserve it." I said while still maintaining my impassive scowl and tried not to smile. The old man looked amused by all that. He seemed like those old people who look at their grandkids with nostalgia. Like they remind them of who they used to be back in their days.

"What'd you say niblet." My eyebrow twitched at the nickname. "Want to become my apprentice?"

I thought about it for a second. Being his student will – might – get me stronger, which means less people might stop interracting with me. And that I could protect my sisters. "Before we do that... I want to know your name."

"It's rude to ask other people's name without introducing yourself." The master wagged his finger in a childish manner.

I sweat dropped at him. He knows my name yet he wants me to introduce myself. _"Maybe he's one of those who prefers to represent themselves instead of the rumors they've heard."_ I nodded, that sounded plausible and something I would've done too. "Ezekiel Vane."

I looked at the old master and saw him giving one of those cryptic smile of his again. Like he knows what I was thinking. It got annoying and I felt like I should've just turned my back to him and leave.

"Well, little Ezekiel-kun. My name is..."

* * *

><p>|End Flashback|<p>

* * *

><p>"Oi, Ezekiel! Wake up!" Someone shouted and I felt myself much more lighter compared to my previous situation where I was buried underneat a mass pile of old rocks. "This is not the time to sleep! What happened?"<p>

I slowly opened my eyes and groaned when the light nearly blinded me. _"How long was I out?"_ I thought while ignoring the massive headache ringing in my head. I looked at the figure shaking my shoulders and saw Luffy staring at me with worry. I blinked at him, of all times that guy gets here. "Luffy?"

"Yeah, that's me." The Straw Hat captain nodded with a sigh of relief. "Tell me what happened? Where's Nami?" He then looked around at the other unconscious members of his crew. "If you and Zoro were here, then how did this happen!"

"Enel happened." I slowly stood up and saw that my body was completely charred with dust and black ash I knew was my skin... or blood. "We got our ass handed to us." I shut my eyes in pain and gritted my teeth while letting the guy help me up. "He was just too damn strong! Nami-chan went with that _God_ probably out of self-preservation."

"WIPER!" I looked at the huge hole and guessed that was where the Shandian warrior was struckt by lightning. We both walked over there with a little help from Luffy seeing as I had trouble walking. I gringed at the sight of Wiper lying there all bloodied and beat up. There was also that girl, Aisa was it, crying near him. I slunged Luffy off of me and jumped into the hole, startling the little girl by my sudden appearance. "W-Who are you?"

I ignored her and picked up Wiper by hoisting him over my shoulder. "Don't worry." I heard Luffy call to the girl with the white wings. "He's a friend of mine." And while I was there, I picked Aisa up and jumped back on the ruin pathway. Strangely enough, I was fine and ready to got interrogate that prick Enel. "That bazooka guy too..." Luffy whispered. "He was strong..."

"It was all Enel's fault!" Aisa yelled once I set her down. She broke down on her knees and began to sob in front of Luffy who crouched down on her eye level. "He's the only one who could have done this." The two continued on their little chat as I went to see Félix's cairn burial.

"I wonder if he's still alive..." I mumbled and picked up one rock after another with the use of the Panzer Dial that was lying near his discarded zanbatō. It made my work so much easier when it takes the unnecessary weight and decreases the human limitations by giving me super strenght. After a minute of grave robbery, I found the guy very much alive... a bit out of breath but still alive "You alright?"

"I'll live..." The former Priest said while staring at the sky above us. "This is all my fault."

"True that." I coldly said to him with my narrowed eyes. Félix turned his head to me, a bit fearful and slightly relieved thinking that I'll end his misery. "Are you just going to leave it like that or are you going to do something about it?"

"You saw how powerful Enel is." The older teen said and got up after I extended my hand to him. "There's no one here that can beat him."

"I know one." I grinned and pointed at Luffy who was now next to Robin. "Let that guy handle it."

"Are you sure?" Féliz blinked. "He seems a bit... goofy."

"That he is, but he's also strong and reliable." I chuckled, mostly to myself as we walked to the other three conscious persons. "If you want to go and kick Enel's ass." I gained their attention and pointed towards the trail Nami's Waver made. "Follow that ro-." I was rudely interrupted by the little girl Aisa who pointed her finger at Félix.

"You!" She yelled towards the former Priest with venom laced in her voice. "You're one of Enel's Priests! What did you do to Wiper!" Luffy looked confused by Félix standing next to me with a dejected, hurt look.

"If he's the Priest. Doesn't that make him a bad guy?"

"He used to," I punched Félix's shoulder with a grin. "That is until I kicked him towards the right direction." The captain returned the grin and stood up from his crouching position. "Oh, and before I forget."

**BAM!**

I hit the little girl Aisa on the head with a light scowl. "Hey!" she yelled, "what was that for?"

"For interrupting me and rudely pointing a finger towards another person." Kids these days, no respect for their elders, no respect.

"I am a-!" This time _I_ stopped her in mid sentence.

"I don't care if you're a Shandian or the love child of Chuck Norris and Bruce Willis. If you want someone to respect or acknowledge you, start it by respecting others." I didn't know what got into me. Usually I would've been mad as hell for getting my ass handed to me by Enel. _"Maybe it's because I got to sleep for a while... not enough, but enough to replenish my chakra for simple movements."_ I looked at Luffy who was thinking about whether he should leave us or not. Deciding to save his brain cells this time, I took off his straw hat and set it on my head to be later sealed inside my pocket dimension. "Go, kick his ass Luffy. "

Luffy grinned and talked with Aisa to pin point Nami's location. I was a bit unsure about letting the girl take such responsibility but I digress. It was her choice and hey, if things get out of hands I'm sure Luffy will look after her.

"Okay," Luffy nodded, "take care." That said, the captain ran ahead of the girl who tried to catch up with the rubberman.

"Ezekiel-san." I resisted the urge to sigh at the voice of Robin who stood up once Luffy was out of sight. Her standing up made me raise an eyebrow. I thought she was beat up and couldn't stand much less walk. Now that I think about it, this is the first time she used my name. "We need to talk."

Oh yeah, I could feel the headache coming from this one.

* * *

><p><strong>[To Be Continued]<strong>

* * *

><p>Took me long enough but here I am, alive and breathing thanks to your reviews. So I've devided to get back to the review response.<p>

Gui: I feel bad that I made you stay up and read the previous chapter. Still, thanks for the positive review. Oh, and to clear it out, Chidori is weaker than Raikiri, the latter one was the one that can cut through lightning. The Lightning Cutter requires more chakra, better control and is more focused and blue. Hope that clears things out.

Zaralann: Thanks!

xxOMGgalxx: Maybe... maybe not...

Yonet: I don't know, usually when two lightning collides with each other – something I've yet to witness or hear about – I expect a loud explosion with one or the other winning depending on the amount of electrones... or was it neutrones... atoms? I don't know what the hell I'm talking about.

KuroHi91: I'm too lazy, that's why the grammar mistakes. More will be explained later, but I could tell you that the answer to your question will blow your mind. Or cause brain hemorrhage...

MJ: Thanks!

Haha: Well, he didn't absorb it, more like attacked by his own attack.

Cone: Thanks! Feels great to be complimented like that!

DarkDHeritage: Appreciate the review!

Jamin1227: PM'd as my response is kinda long...


	55. Raging Storm

**Chapter 55: Raging Storm.**

**Disclaimer: Everything I want from life is a warm bed, few friendly words and superpowers.**

* * *

><p>We, as in me, Robin and Félix, dragged the three unconscious men and one animal hybrid into a nearby safespot. The place wasn't that grandious as we were close to the already shattered ruin tempel but still near the giant beanstalk where we – the pirates – meet again.<p>

"What do you want to know?" I said with a sigh once I set Zoro down on the fluffy pillow-like cloud. The bastard has that kid of luxurity while I slept about 30 minutes under a pile of rocks.

"The location of the Poneglyph." Robin more like demanded. If I wasn't this exhausted and not taken the brunt of the attack meant for her, then I might've said something about it. Probably something dumb.

"I don't know..." I looked down at my bare feet. "It kinda comes and goes." I still wasn't sure about that. Was that even real? Sure I do know what a the giant square of rock looks like seeing that thing in the anime and once at Alabasta.

"What?" The other warrior was looking between the two of us and I made a mental note to talk with him once this is over. "Enel just said that you know."

"I'm not sure." I clenched my fists into a ball. Can I say that it's in my head? What if they think I'm crazy? I'm positively sure that they already know I have few loose screws. "If it's as dangerous as Félix said then I'd rather die with that information." I gave Robin a look with narrowed eyes. "I still don't trust you and while we're sailing on the same ship doesn't mean I should dance around your whistle." Not that it was hard for me to defend myself, but I don't want to explain anything about myself. I'm already one foot under the grave. _"I'll keep this information to myself. That is until I know more about it."_

"But is it true?" She tried to confirm, probably, that I wasn't lying. I don't know why she did that. It's not like I'll tell her anytime soon. "Is it safe?" I was sure that she – and maybe few others – won't leave me alone. Maybe I could bargain with her, maybe she knows more about that pirate killing organization.

"Yeah, it's safe alright." I mumbled and heard a flap of wings coming towards us. I didn't pay much attention to it 'till a huge shadow engulfed me. I looked behind me and saw the purple feathered Fuza staring at me with those yellow, calculating eyes. "So you made it?"

_"Wasn't that hard."_ Fuza, somewhat, said to me in that weird accent of his. It was weird, animals have accents. It's like watching the re-runs of the muppets.

God I hate muppets.

"Yeah right." I deadpanned. "Enel doesn't care about animals so be grateful your ass is still intact. Otherwise we'd be having roasted chicken as our ass-beating feast."

"Wait?" Robin said us and stared now at me and the bird Fuza. "You're leaving? Where?"

_"Dammit, she saw through it!"_ I thougth in slight hurry. There was something I wanted to do before I go and ask nicely, this time, what Enel meant about that _man_, amongs few other things. "I have, some unfinished business..."

"Don't tell me your going back." The former Priest sighed and leaned against his heavy sword. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Not so much as I was before." A grin former on my lips. It was enough to make him flinch. "Can I trust you to look after these guys out for me?"

"S-Sure." He said with a side glance. What he did next surprised me. The guy took of all his Dials and offered them to me, including the zanbatō. "I don't know if you trust me for all the sins I've commited. I don't deserve your trust and I think that this is a good step to start fixing the problems I caused... we caused." The last part he said with some amount of remorse. I guessed he meant about his brother I – accidentally of course – killed.

Sure I was still skeptical about him since the fact that I don't trust Robin speaks highly about my lack of people trusting skills. _"He's not so bad afterall, not that I didn't know that. It was just that he was mislead by that prick Enel."_ I nodded and sealed the Dials and the huge sword inside my modified wristband. Never thought that this happens, but I think the place is full. Yeah, sure, I could make those pocket dimension, but only one and they are all connected with my other scrolls and they have to be re-summoned from the scroll I summoned them. _"Note to self: organize the pocked dimension."_

"But if you die then-!" Robin yelled but I managed to interrupt her by holding out my hand.

"I won't." I hopped on top of the bird and. "I still have things to do before that happens." A light glare at Robin made me think about the idea of letting her be here. "Before I give you an accurate answer about the artifact, I need to confirm them to be true. In more ways than one."

My idea consisted of interrogating Enel about the Poneglyph. He seems to know more about that crap more than I do. Sure I could ask Robin, but... nah... maybe later.

That in thought, me and the purple feathered bird took off. Our next destination; Going Merry.

* * *

><p>It took us awhile to get to the goat headed ship, mainly because I was staring at the huge ship called Maxim for quite some time. The thing was <em>huge<em>, but compared to Enel's ego, I'd say it's only a fraction of it.

We landed on the Going Merry and I was instantly ''greeted'' by Daxter who bombarded me with questions. I tried to answer as quickly as I could while messing up with the ships galley/kitchen. "C'mon, it must be somewhere around here!" I said in panic. Nami was in danger and so were the people on Angel Island.

"What happened to my goggles!" I groaned and re-summoned the orange ski goggles back. Hell, I don't even remember when I sealed them there. It also seemed that there was a light crack in the visor. "You broke them! And I was just about to finish it!"

"Cry me a river would you!" I shouted, not in the mood to argue with the fuzzy. "I got my ass handed to me in a silver platter. Try and say something nice to me for a while."

"And you're going after the guy!"

"Yeah! He knows something I don't and I'd be damned not to get the answers out of him." I decided to try and search the items of my desire from one of Sanji's cooking shelf. "If there's one thing I can't stand, it's losing," I grumbled in annoyance. "Especially against a stronger opponent." A short pain went through my left elbow. The memory of my loss at the tournament was a huge setback to me. I won't lose and disappoint anyone ever again. "Found it!"

"Found what!" The ottsel shouted at me and tried to take a peek at whatever I summoned inside my pocket dimension of miscellaneous things after throwing the Dials and the Buster Sword all over the deck. I even set Luffy's straw hat on the table, just in case. "Does that mean you're going to fight? Again?"

"Yup?" I grinned and unconsciously rubbed my elbow. "Wanna come?"

"Fight a God or stay fuzzy?" He thought about it for a second while tapping his chin. After few seconds of brainstorming, the little half weasel half otter sighed. "I'm glad I'm not your stunt double. Go and save that girlfriend of yours, I don't care anymore."

"Gee, thanks..." I groaned and looked at the two futons in the middle of the galley. "Where are those two nutbars? I haven't seen them since we slipt up."

Daxter jumped on top of the table and curled himself into a comfortable position to sleep. "They said the same thing. Save the money hogging girl from her doom."

"Right..." I nodded. "Take care." I told him and petted the cloud fox who kept following me. "Wish me luck." The fox yipped, a shame I couldn't understand her.

_"Did you find it?"_ Fuza inquired once I mounted on his back and flew off.

"Yup!" I grinned a malicious grin. "Enel won't know what hit him!" I don't know if it works, but if it does then I could get my answers from him by force. _"I better conserve on my chakra. It seems I have enough to pull few low level jutsus." _I grimaced at the thought. _"Now I can't use my newest technique without risking a massice chakra depletion. I hate when that happens." _Usually chakra depletion involves dried throat, hunger, numb muscles, blood loss and worst: death. I remember once being careless and nearly died because of it. _"I just have to be careful. If I can do that, then all my dreams will come true... or my really unambitious dreams that I need to have, like right now."_

I blinked and activated my Sharingan when something caught my eyes. There was Usopp, dangling in the air with that rope thing of his. A groan escaped my throat when I asked Fuza to pick the guy up. I knew that the bird was tired with me weighting him down. Not that I blame him, even I would be tired of carrying people around. I even saw Sanji climbing few dozens of meters from Usopp swinging routine.

"Ahhhhh!" Usopp shrieked in my ear once I grabbed him. "A monster is eating me! Sanji! save m-!"

"Shut up, Usopp." I shook my head. "It's me."

"Ezekiel?" The shapshooter started at me with wide eyes. "You're here! You're finally here..." He started to mumble something about getting down and me and Sanji saving Nami. I, of course, ignored him and asked Fuza to set us on one of the balconies near the giant propeller. It was the place where these guys get inside the ark to mess with the ship. I did make sure to be as stealthy as possible and even suppressed my chakra... not sure if that works, but I don't see anything holding me back from doing so.

Once that was done, we helped Sanji up from his ''mountain'' climbing. He wasn't happy that I was here, mostly out of concern that I was in this condition. Sorta put me off guard. I thought the guy hated my guts as much as I hated muppets.

"Can you fight?" The blond-haired man asked as he took a drag from his cigarette. I was mostly covered in blood, a small percentage of it is not even mine.

"Do I look like I can?" I shook my head and resisted the urge to brag about my fights so far. "Me and the others were totally outclassed; Zoro, Gan Fall, Wiper, Félix, Robin. We all got slaughtered."

"He beat you all!" Usopp shrieked, yet again, in my ear. "God is bad, Sky Island is bad, we need to get the hell out of here!"

"Wait!" Sanji suddenly shouted and got in front of my face. "What happened to Robin-chan?"

I shrugged my shoulder with my hands held at my side. "Enel electocuted her, there was nothing I could do, why you ask?"

"SAY WHAT!"

"Crap..." I winced and slapped myself for saying something like this. Now the guy's gonna get in my way for his justified revenge. "Me and my big mouth."

Sanji clenched his fist until his knuckles turned white. "How dare he. Harming a lady is unforgivable!"

"Well..." I looked around and whistle an innocent tune that _I_ never ''harmed'' a lady out of evil intent. Susan doesn't count because she's more like a man... a man with breasts. "What's the plan?"

"Once we're inside," I could see that Sanji was mad and I was thankful that he didn't aim that on me. "we'll split up and head straight for the deck. Nami-san is up there!"

"W-What! We're splitting up!" Usopp stuttered.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, Usopp." I walked forward. "You'll come with me while Sanji does whatever he's good at."

"Ah, good..." He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. "If we encounter enemies then..."

"...it's your job to beat them." I deadpanned. "Do I look like I can fight?" Well, I could, but I wanted him to do all the dirty works while I go for Enel.

"What!" Now his short lived courage was shattered by my word. "B-B-But."

"Alright fine," I ran ahead of them. "you're on your own then!"

"Let's go! We're coming, Nami-swaaan~!" I heard Sanji shout behind me. "And I will avenge you too, Robin-chwaaaan~!"

"Wait for me, Sanji! Ezekiel! W-wait for me! H-Hey!"

* * *

><p>"At least we're now split up..." I said to myself while gazing around. I felt like a kid who got lost inside a huge vessel with machines, pipes, pumps, a real steampunks wet dream. "What to do, what to do... I don't have enough explo-." A lightbulb appeared on my head. "The grenades!" I quickly summoned three of them and ran forward while throwing them around like a easter bunny on meth.<p>

It's not like they did much damage, but it was a good way to went out my frustation on my loss against Enel. After running for more like 10 minutes, I arrived outside, again, but this time on the side of the ark.

"Dammit..." I cursed and decided to run to the deck. What I saw made me somewhat proud and angry at the same time. Enel was sending lightning bolts at Nami who kept dodging them. I thought about interfering, but I also wanted to see what she could do about this risky situation. She was panicing, that was obvious, and it was heartbreaking seeing those eyes: fear.

Nami did a great job of deflecting those lightning bolts with that Clima Tact of hers. I looked at Enel and wondered if he knew I was here. I tried to suppress my chakra earlier when I did that ''surprise'' attack of mine, which of course ended in failure as the fake God can still sense me. Be it my heartbeat or breath and that's without his Mantra. At least this time I actually putted a lot of effort to suppress my presence.

The rest I put on luck.

Although those lightning bolts were rather weak, they were nothing short of dangerous for her. The next one made me rather edgy as Enel charged yet another attack, this one being several times more lethal than the one he previously threw at her.

_"I gotta do something."_ I was about to Body Flicker there, but something or rather _someone_ beat me to it.

"Hissatsu: Kaenboshi! (Sure-kill: Flame Star!)" I heard Usopp call out his attack name and shot a pellet containing flammable substance at Enel. The Logia-user blocked the thing with his bare hand and sent a death glare towards Usopp.

"That... idiot..." I mumbled and took out the items I snatched from the ship. _"These should do fine. If not..."_ I let the word hang around the air as I put the gloves on my hand. _"Now..."_ I made waved through a set of hand seals and was ready. My hands shimmered and made it look like I don't have any gloves on me. Just a pair of bloodied hands.. _"A C-ranked genjutsu to hide objects in a limited area... hopefully that's enough."_

"I'm sorry." I heard Usopp's quivering voice. "H-Huh? Where's Sanji!" He sounded more frightful now than before. "Ezekiel! Where are you!"

_"Shit, he said my name."_ I winced. _"Not that it mattered anyways."_

"Ezekiel-kun? He's here?" Nami asked in surprise and I janked my head back once Enel looked at my direction. It seems that suppressing my chakra gives me some kind of advantage, that is if the user isn't concentrated on said Haki. If they do, they'll be able to _see_ me... so to speak

"They're not up here yet!" Once I heard the door shut, which indicated that Usopp ''retreated''. I made myself know and slowly walked towards Enel.

"So you've made it." Enel smirked as I cracked my hands. "You're the first to survive that attack. Usually it shoul've boiled your insides and be half-way to Hell by now..." He gave me a amused smile.

"Really?" I returned the smirk and stood right in front of him, staring into his eyes without the fake bloodline as I had difficulties maintaining the genjutsu. "I've gotten hit with tasers that do more than that."

Enel scowled, if only so slighty. "Ezekiel-kun! Get away from him!" Nami tried to warn me. It was cute, but I was – not – confident that I can stall the guy 'till Luffy gets here.

"You should listen to her." Enel said, "Or do you want to awaken the wrath of God?"

The door where Usopp hid himself opened with a loud bang. "SO WHAT IF YOU'RE GOD!" Enel, without looking, shot a stream of lightning at Usopp. I quickly grabbed, and yes, grabbed Enel's leg and threw him to his golden throne. He was surprised as were Nami and Usopp. At first I wanted to use this as a surprise attack, but seeing as Enel was about to fry Usopp I had to changed my plans.

"How..." Enel said as I grinned and ran towards him. The guy seemed perfectly fine with that, so he let me come close to him and smack that smug prick face of his with a left hook. I then grabbed the guys leg and hammered him on the wooden deck with a loud 'thud'. I could feel my muscles about to tear for the excess force I just used.

This must be the fifth time I'm jealous of Luffy and Zoro. I can't strenghten my limbs with the amount of the blue stuff I have left.

Not one to let an enemy to get the best out of him. Enel tried to pierce me with that golden trident of his. I quickly held my hands in front of me, took a quick sidestep and engaged him by sending a barrage of fist onto his stomach. He was dazed – and surprised I even landed a shot at him – so I ended my onslaugh with a swift uppercut to the taller males jaw.

Enel landed on his back and was about to get up had I not grabbed his throat. This was something I wanted Luffy to do, strangle this bastard to death and be done with it. I would've succeeded too, but as any good shinobi, I saw Enel trying to pierce me with that three-pronged spear again. I don't know how he did that so I did what first came to mind: get the hell away from him.

"That oughta teach you ya big headed clown!" I shouted and waved my fist at him. "Harm me, shame on you. Harm my friends and I'll kill you."

"How did you do that!" Nami shouted/asked me from a good distance away. I ignored her as my eyes were on Enel. That dirty bastard fights as dirty as those Naruto ninjas.

"What are you?" Enel snarled and readied his trident.

"I'm a pirate... and a Rubberman." It took me all my willpower not to laugh at the stupid idea as I stood straight with my hands on my hips. I tried to sound as serious as I could so my act goes through.

It seems it did...

"What!" The two pirates AND Enel started at me with wide eyes. "There's two of you? My lightning caused damage to your body. The other mortal was not affected by it."

"Its simple." I started to jump up and down with my arms held in front of me like a boxers. Not that I know how to box, I mostly rely on jiu-jitsu or CQC (close quarter combat), but compared to Luffy's boxing style I was a novice. "Being around the guy lets me ''borrow'' his powers thanks to these." I lied and pointed to my now active Sharingan. He seemed to buy it as the guy had no idea how my eyetechnique works. Neither did Usopp and Nami.

I also made another mental note to use genjutsus on him as physical attacks won't do any good. The problem was that I suck at genjutsu and only have about 4 weak jutsus of it.

"That's impossible!" Enel shouted, completely vivid this time. "No two Devil Fruit powers of the same kind can exist at once."

"True." I chuckled and threw my hands in the air. "But I'm from the FUTURE!" If there's anything I learned while hanging out with Usopp is that I can lie whenever I want to. "I ate the power of Gomu Gomu no Mi! In the future!"

I wasn't sure if Enel bought that one, but the other two did. "I knew there was something wrong about you!" Usopp shouted, the guy either bought the whole act or plays along. If so then good job, had me fooled there for a second.

"Come again?" I asked Usopp without looking back. "People can use chakra... in the future that is." The reason I did this was to make Enel uncertain about attacking me with his lightning attacks. Hell, I wasn't sure if I could even dodge those Zeus attacks of his. "Now go, use the Waver plan you guys had. I'll hold him off."

"Will do!" Nami shouted as she ran towards the Waver. I was a bit confused at Usopp. Why was the guy standing on top of the horizontal hourglass with electrical discharge running through it?

"I'll help you, Ezekiel!"

"You'll what?" Me and Enel stared at Usopp who was in a weird, horse-riding stance as I put it. Or whatever you call it, kabuki actor stance, I dunno. "Please don't he-."

"Take this, God! Usopp Spell!" Now I began to panic as I knew what he was about to do.

"No, Usopp! Don't!" I shouted and waved my arms high, anything to get the guy to shut up.

"A needle embeds itself in the skin under your nail." Shivers went through my spine as the image appeared on my head. I wasn't the only one as Nami and Usopp himself were affected by it.

"Just thinking about it hurts!" Nami shouted and froze in her spot.

"Dammit Uso-!" I yelled, but was interrupted when Enel disappeared and reappeared right in front of me with that damn trident. I let it sail pass over my head after the guy made a forward stab by making the cool matrix dodge. Next I aimed to sweep his legs off, but had to stop when I realized that I had no rubber there, only bare feet. And, without thinking, I rolled out of the way when Enel was about to skewer me with the same weapon. _"Should've brought rubber shoes..."_

"Ezekiel! Are you alright!" Usopp asked from his position on the horizontal hourglass.

"No! Stop helping and get the hell out of here!" I charged at Enel who effortlessly dodged my lousy boxing skills. "Dammit, stay still!"

"And let you hit me?" The taller man smirked. "Come now, I want to see that power."

I took a few steps back and flashed through a set of hand seal in anger. "Fine then, Kanashibari no Jutsu. (Temporary Paralysis Jutsu.)" A D-rank ninjutsu won't hurt a soul except mine as it took a good amount of chakra to make someone like Enel freeze for a second. That was enough for me as I used yet another ninjutsu, the Body Flicker, to reappear in front of him and send a rather weak punch to his nose after two ninjutsus in a row. It was enough to send him flying back a few meters away from me.

The guy backflipped away and gave me a death glare that also made me freeze. Either that or I'm on my last drop of chakra. _"I swear, I need a gauge for the amount of chakra I have."_

Enel glanced to the side and looked at me with a sigh. "So, they jumped off." I blinked, but was still wary of letting my guard down around this guy. "It seems they still do not grasp the range of my attack. They have yet to truly escape."

"I guess that's better than to listen to you, Ear Lobs." Enel closed his eyes, was it because of rage or simply because he let Sanji fly past him and nearly crash onto me I do not know. I ducked under the cook's high jump kick and gave him a glare. "Sanji, what the hell man!"

"I missed." Sanji said and ignored me yelling at him. He started to look around for something, probably our two non-combat players.

"Screw you, now get away from here."

"No!" The cook protested. "I'm here to save Nami-san. Where is she?"

"Oh," I deadpanned and pointed to the crashed arks rail behind us. "They jumped off, their either safe or a bloody stain on the fluffy cloud."

"And you let them go!"

"Hey, I'm the one suffering here!" I shouted back. "Do you know how annoying it is to listen to him? I'd rather share a sleeping bag with Whitebeard than to listen to him prancing along."

"You dare to compare me to another mortal?" Enel snarled at us, mostly at me. I don't have to take this crap from him. No one talks to me like that and lives to tell about it.

"Just face it pal, you're a regular high-esteemed bastard with a overactive imagination and the need to make yourself seem more important than you actually are."

Sanji was also about to add something of his own, but I was thankful that Enel decided to attack us now. Me and the cook split up and I saw Enel went after me. Enel – hopefully – still thought I'm a ''Rubberman'' and knows that lightning won't work on me. Otherwise I'd be fried, literally.

He made more of those stabbing motion of his with that trident. I had trouble dodging them now that Enel was serious. The advantage Luffy has is that the guy can shut his brains off. Unfortunately for me, my brain capacity is _way_ more advanced than Luffy's to simply shrug my IQ points down to one.

So my only way to dodge it – without the use of my Sharingan this time because it consumes precious chakra I'm trying to conserve – was to evade the attack at the last second before it hits me.

Which ended up with a failure seeing as one of the pronges pierced me on my right tight. I shouted in pain and felt the spear burning away my muscles. Enel was – I hope – compassionate and heated the spear to the point of cauterizing the hole in my tight. The thing wasn't even that deep, about 3 centimeters so he missed my arteries by a fraction.

"Sanji, a little help here!" I shouted despite the obvious. I grabbed Enel's outstreched arm and pulled him towards me. The pain my brain registered was enough to dispel the genjutsu on my hands, revealing the pink, kitchen rubber gloves Sanji got from Nami by his request. Now that I had the ''God's'' arm, his Logia-powers were turned off for a moment, letting Sanji kick him away from me.

"Wait, are those..." Sanji said and looked at the slightly blackened pink rubber gloves. "Those... those are my gifts from Nami-san! How dare you ruin my love object!"

I sweatdropped while laying on the deck with one knee and nursed the injured leg. "You have some weird fetishes and that's coming from me. I never thought you were into rubber."

**CRASH! BOOM!**

The Maxim suddenly stopped and shook like the Titanic after being smashed against the ice berg. Me and Sanji lost our balance with the latter hurdled on top of me. I shook the blond cook off of me and stared where Enel was... well staring. He was looking at the chimney on top of the ark who stopped producing those black clouds. I knew instantly that it was Sanji's doing. "Great, you doomed us..."

"Insolent mortal! What did you do inside my Ark!" Enel shouted in a new level of hate and anger towards us. I could practically smell the killer intent. And considering how much chakra I have left, I couldn't shrug it off. It feels like someone wrapped me in a cold, wet towel in the middle of september. Weird and uncomfortable.

"That's what you get for harming a lady." Sanji said in his ''cool'' voice, not caring that he just killed us with that stunt.

"Wretched mortal! Such a nuisance." Enel sparkled with azure lightning while still maintaining the killer intent. I was scared shitless, if he attacks us there's no way I can dodge that in my condition. "One of the gears has bee dislodged. I must reset it now!" He said and went inside the giant, golden sun through the open door to probably fix the problem Sanji caused.

"Oi, come back here!" The cook yelled and was about go after him had I not stopped the guy. I growled at him and smacked him upside the head. "What was that for!"

"Of all the stupid things... this was something I expected from Luffy." I tried to stand up without a positive result. "Goddammit! I think he really screwed me over there."

**BAM!**

Sanji kicked me on the head for a reason I already know. "You, took, my, GIFT!"

"Grow up," I rubbed my head and let the guy help me stand up. "I'll buy you a new one."

"It's not the same!" Sanji whined. "Why'd you took it in the first place?"

"Because I can, thats why."

"Yosh, he's gone." A familiar voice said near the lightning hourglass. We looked at Usopp poking his head from the side of the ark. He boarded the Maxim again and took those lame octopus shoes off. At least someone was conserned about my health and not for some rubber gloves. Although, it made me jealous that Sanji got something from Nami.

"Nami-san," Sanji said. "where's Nami-san?"

"Nami fell safely onto the Island Cloud thanks to Fuza" Usopp answered him and I closed my eyes from the near exhaustion I was about to enter. It was a good thing the bird was always nearby. I don't even want to think about where I would've been without him.

_"I still need to ask him about the Key."_ I thought and pried myself off from my two nakamas. It felt great saying that word, but onto more pressing matters. I walked forward and saw how high we were from the soft, marshmallow-like cloud. It made me nearly fall asleep just by looking at it. "You want us to jump from here?"

The second I said that, Fuza landed in front of us in all of its glory. He gave me a nod and hopped onto the deck. _"Who goes first? I can only carry two a maximum."_

"What did he say?" Usopp inquired while looking at the bird with a smile. He obviously likes him and that was great as I also like the bird. I'm a bird person.

"He said he can only carry two of us so one has to jump or wait." The shapshooter instantly mounted the purple feathered bird and patted his head.

"After risking my life to get Nami to safety, I think it would be a good, no great idea for me to land back on the ground."

"Fine be me..." I looked at Sanji then at Fuza. The bird seemed to know what I was thinking as he flapped his wings and left.

"H-Hey, what's going on?" Sanji looked back and forth in confusion. I grabbed the cooks arm, threw him over the ark and gave him a short, two-fingered salute with a weak grin. Fuza grabbed Sanji's shirt with his talons and began to descend rapidly by the two pirates weightening him down. "Bastard! You planned this from the beginning!"

"Mmm... maybe." I kept looking at them with a smile and detached the grappling hook Usopp used to get here. "Someone has to be here. He can still attack you without batting an eyelash." They kept shouting, mostly to the bird to turn around. I let out a sigh and limped towards the lightning hourglass. "The things I do for those guys I should be given a prize, medal of honor, but no, the only thing I'll get will be a fist to the face by all of them. Including Nico Robin."

The ark was shaking more and I could listen to the beautiful sound of explosion in the air like it was one of Frank Sinatra's classics. _"What has the Key got to do with anything?" _Went through my head as I began to meditate till Enel get's here. It at least accelerates my recovery of chakra by calming my spiritual energy down and ignore the pain on my leg.

The physical energy part... it seems like I'm still screwed. My swordtechnique seemed to zap most of it, leaving me with barely enough to create chakra. That and the added exhaustion...

Definitely screwed.

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><p>[Fuza's POV]<p>

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><p>Fuza was many things; evil, greedy, sadistic and a coward. Something he didn't deny, but always wished to change for the better. That is until he met his former master, Shura. The Priest was exactly like him. He took pleasure of bringing pain to others and listening to a powerful human who he can't escape from.<p>

Fuza sought freedom, he knew the meaning of ''free as a bird''. He regretted the things he did, even when he swallowed the Flame Dial. Had that not happened he wouldn't be in this mess of transporting these humans to the Island Cloud.

This human, his unofficial master as he put it, defeated Shura with ease. He never saw a human, much less a Blue Sea dweller, toy with one of the Priests. Naturally, when faced against a stronger opponent or predator, you retreat. He would have done that had he not frozen him with those cold, red eyes that resembled more like a Devil's than anything. No human should have those eyes and yet Fuza was compelled to stay, listen and even eat with him.

After some thought, the human wasn't so bad after all. He cares for those around him, even to those he doesn't know. Fuza's previous master never thought about that. He always let him eat scraps, punished him for their teamwork mistakes and now look at him; killed by the very God he worshipped and feared, ironic.

Ezekiel, odd name but a name nonetheless. He knew what he was up against, even if Fuza escorted him to the lion's den. The yellow eyed bird thought about abandoning him, but he wanted to know if he'll make it. The brothers were known to be ruthless warriors, even more than Shura. He wanted to see what made him different from the rest of these apes without tails.

Without much of a thought, Fuza flew to the otherside of the cave and waited for him. After debating with himself about leaving and accepting the fate that the human died. He was just about to take off when the same human defeated not one but both ordeals. What surprised the Sanjocho bird was that he was helping, yes, helping his enemy to see the right path.

It was the same with him. This human helped him, forgave him for his past mistake and helps the other human to make amends for his people. Fuza thought that maybe he could help him too. The only thing the bird knew was to be useful to someone. Maybe this... person, can give that to him.

Now to the epical dilemma of understanding humans. Fuza never hated human, just dislikes them as many other species does. Be it vegetarians or carnivores, humans were a foolish creatures.

"Ezekiel is still up there!" The long-nosed human exclaimed in panic. After Fuza set the down, these humans, the blond and the female were also distraughted by the person left behind. "Oi, bird!"

_"What?" _He asked while trying to sound as annoyed as a bird could.

"Go and get the dumbass!" The other male yelled at Fuza. The Sanjocho doesn't like being commanded by those he doesn't deem worthy. "What are you waiting, he'll die if you don't get him back!"

Fuza would have brought him back had he not asked him before not to interfere with his affairs and this sounds like one. _"He's saving your lives..."_ While he knew that they couldn't understand him, Fuza could still ''talk'' with them. Depending on your point of view.

"Flap your wings dammit!" Again, the long-nosed human said and made those humiliating flapping motion with his arms. Had he not made a pact with his current master, he would've cooked him to a crisp. No joke.

"It's no use, he seems to listen to Ezekiel-kun only." The female sighed and aproached him. She then petted the yellow eyed bird, something the bird didn't like from strangers. "Can you fetch him for me? I have a... _surprise_ for him." She winked at the bird, something which didn't go unnoticed as the bird stared to the orange-haired human female.

_"This is what master must've talked about: seduction." _The bird deadpanned and shook his head from side to side. That oughta tell them that he won't get in the person's way.

Not that the females attempt at changing his mind would've worked. Fuza never let himself be used by those he sees weak.

Never.

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><p>"ACHOO!" I sneezed for the umpteenth time. "Someone must be talking about me." I wiped the snot under my nose and saw it was actually blood. Next I started to cough a blotch of the crimson liquid on the deck. "Great, as if I'm not suffering from blood loss enough as I already did."<p>

The ark did whatever it did with those Jet Dials. I was tempted to blow this whole thing down, but I couldn't because that was Luffy's job.

I didn't have to wait long for Enel to fix whatever Sanji broke. Enel reappeared back and grinned once those black clouds started to emerge from the golden chimney.

"The thunderclouds are being steadily released again. Soon I will be ascend to my rightful throne as God and my place in Fairy Vearth." Enel said and I had this feeling that the Logia-user likes to listen to his voice. Even more than I do to myself. "You should be happy for me, Ezekiel-kun."

"Cut the crap, Enel!" I shouted at his back as the man sat back on his golden throne. "You know why I'm here!"

"Indeed I do." He chuckled much to my annoyance as I limped towards him. I could walk normally, but this was to fool him into false security. "The Key of Tartarus, yes, a dangerous weapon and befitting to be guarded by a strong mortal such as yourself." What I did notice was the sarcarms behind those words, but let it slide.

_"Its not like you're any different. Logia-user have shorter lifespans you know."_ I thought and tried not to annoy the guy who has answers to my new purpose in life. "What does it do?"

"Why open the gates of hell of course." Enel grinned like that information didn't concern him in the least considering that he'll live on the moon. "I don't know why he chose you and made you much weaker than the previous guardian. I guess he saw something in you that I don't, maybe, but I doubt that."

I knew he was trying to rile me up. If I get all angsty at him, I know he'll kill me on the spot so delaying this talk would be much more benefitical for me and Luffy instead of yelling like a baffoon. "There were more?" I asked as politely as I could, still not sure wether he knew my bluff.

That seemed to increase Enel's ego into a whole new level as he rested his left arm against the throne arm and rested his head on it. "I see you're learning your place." I scowled and narrowed my eyes at him. "Very well... you see, ever since the world has been created. Gods, demons, angels, all deity from all facts and fictions tried – the _key_ word being: tried, to lock away pure evil. There are two kinds of evil in the world: evil and pure evil, the latter being much more potent." He stopped and let out a small sigh. "Of course, you can't lock that kind evil so they did the next best thing: seal it inside a box, crafted by Hephaestus himself. While the foul, negative energy is being held in there, the evil increases. For that, we have Hell. Everyone who commits sin of all kind will be judged and sent to hell."

_"So it's like a Pandora's Box. Open the box and stuff happens."_ I thought in the middle of Enel's banter.

"...I know what you are thinking." Enel smirked, sagely this time. "It is _nothing_ like Pandora's Box."

_"Am I that easy to read?"_

"The Key of Tartarus, instead of destroying one world, it goes into another and won't stop until it devours everything in its path. Still, even I don't know much about the weapon since it vanished the second it was made." Enel said and let that sink for a second. It was hard to believe that there were other dimensions beside this one much less Gods and hobbits. The only ones I know is my home and this... place here, but others? Is that possible? I gripped my head in pain from all that information. "Tell me, Ezekiel-kun. Do you believe in, different dimensions?"

I thought about that for a second and decided to lie. I can make a dimension, but it's just a small empty, dark place with nothing in it. "No, I do not."

Enel sighed at the lack of my information. "Let me tell you then; For a long time, theories of parallel universes have existed." He began his self-made tutoring to me. "Places where the laws of nature don't necessarily have to be the same as here. These so called parallel universes are connected to us and to others row after row. They're no further away than the width of a shadow, without us being able to see them or go into them."

"What has this got to do with Hell or anything?" I was confused, that was obvious.

"A lot really." Enel nodded and stared at me for a while. "There is a barrier going between these dimensions, Hell and Heaven. If one were to be broken then depending on the amount of evil energy, one of those walls will crumble, letting out and I quote my previous sentence: a new kind of Hell upon us, where those both sides go into a war in this very universe. Maybe they'll destroy others too as the inevitable eternal war continues."

"What do I have to do with all of this!" I shouted with my hands clenched into tight fists. I could feel blood trickled, but wasn't visible as I still had those pink rubber gloves. "I refuse to believe in Gods and Hell, fate and religion! Those were nothing but setbacks to me! I worked too hard to get to where I am..." I looked down on my feet in sadness. "...too hard I tried to change myself, but it was all for naught! I never asked for this, why me!"

"Careful who you point that mouth of yours, boy. Who do you think you are anyway?" Enel sneered and I've had it with that motherfu**er! If he had a different type of Devil Fruit, I would've ripped him apart.

"What? Are you dense? Are you retarded or something? Who the hell do you think I am?" I ran at him with full speed and nothing but the intent to kill him. "I'm Ezekiel Vane you pretentious bastard!"

Enel smirked and accepted the challenge. He vanished in a blur of lightning and reappeared right in front of me. Now that I had my Sharingan activated out of pure rage, I somewhat saw him move in in sort of a zig-zag pattern but in a straight line. It was easy to dodge but hard to hit him as the guy already knew about it thanks to his superior Haki.

I didn't know if Enel knew about me lying, if he did I'd be long dead now. The Logia-user made a stab with the trident and tried to eviscerate me with it. I deflected it with my elbow and felt the hot gold burning my skin as I made a random, fast swing with my eyes shut. That was apparently enough to land a hit on Enel as his Mantra didn't register that.

Not one to let the guy take a breather. I charged at him again and punched him in the gut with a chakra enhanced fist that sent him slamming into the golden sun structure. I propelled myself forward with a burst of chakra and just when I was about to hit him, the guy phased through the gold like Madara Uchiha, leaving me to hit the gold and dent it.

This time my Sharingan was useless as I couldn't detect him and worst of all; he can attack me from all direction. I took out the Panzer Dial and stashed it inside my right rubber glove. There should be enough momentum in it to either dislocate my shoulder or rip it clean off.

"Your over confidence is your weakness." I heard Enel's voice echo around me and I knew that he knew what I just did.

"And your faith in your friends is yours." I quipped back without hesitation and was rewarded with Enel partially appearing from the gold in azure lightning Logia form.

"What are you talking about?" Enel inquired, confused with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry, couldn't help saying the Star Wars reference." What can I say? I was a huge fan of Darth Vader and gangs. "Get over here ya wuss! I'm not done with you!" I shouted and ran parallel to the golden face towards Enel. Once I was getting closer to him, I saw the lightning man grin a wide, evil grin. "It's a trap!"

"I see, you're not made out of rubber! You still fear lightning!" Enel tapped those drum things of his twice with the butt of his trident. "60,000,000 Volt Julungul!" He called out his attacks name and sent a giant, dragon-shaped blast of lightning from the top two drum. That looks like a fu*kton of voltage I am not intrested on getting acquaintance with my skin so I did the next best thing.

I clapped my hands together and held my right hand facing the dragon. "Panzer! (Armor!)" I shouted and was greeted by the sound of a huge firework blast while I ran forward through the lightning. The sight was beautiful, but now wasn't the time to sightsee as I finally saw a surprised Enel after I dispersed his attack in a shower of light particles.

Had I not enhanced my right arm with chakra, I was sure that massive amount of recoil would've no doubt severed my arm. The down side of it; I was right, my right shoulder was now completely dislocated and I could see the bone poking underneath my skin.

I ignored the pain in my body, just like I've been taught to and punched Enel out of his little hidingspot inside the gold. The man flew away from it, but had to disappear in that Logia version of Body Flicker. He was now back on the deck and gave me another one of those murderous glares.

"I never would've thought that you'd use that against me. Even if you knew the risk, you still went with it."

"Hey, if it looks stupid, but works, it ain't stupid." I crouched down and drabbed my right shoulder with my left hand. I then clenched my right hand into a fist and punched the wooden deck. With cry of ''The force is with me!'', I twisted my body and managed to set the bone back in its place with a audiable, **POP!**

"That is just disgusting."

"Says a guy with enlongated ear lobs." I rolled my shoulders a bit and resumed my lousy boxing stance while jumping up and down on my feet. "So why don't you doll yourself up and get ready for a night in the town, because I'm about to take you to a ballroom blitz."

Enel was loosing his patience, and the more he loses it the easier it is for me to beat him. Unless he decides to electocute me now that he knows I'm not made of rubber. What stopped me from attacking him were those lightning bolts raining down on the ground beneath the Maxim. It was then that I knew he was putting innocent lives in jeopardy.

"The hour has come." Enel grinned a maddened grin as he looked what those black thunderclouds he caused after I took few steps back from him. "And now, the gala. It's time to begin."

"Not on my watch!" I yelled and didn't care if I attacked the Logia-user from behind. I can't let him do what he's about to do. Enel slowly turned his head at me and I knew that I walked directly into his trap, again. He held out his hand facing the sky where a tremedous amount of lightning was gathered into it. I was close to faint in fear when he reared the almost dark blue lightning back as he was about to hit someone. Unfortunately for me, that motion was meant to release the gathered natures force at me.

"Indra!"

I held my hands in front of me for protection knowing full well that it won't work as the thunder surged through me. It hurt like hell, even more than those Zeus attacks surging through me. The attack stopped, only for Enel to send out another blast of his non-cannon attacks at me. That continued for about 4 more blast until my eyes rolled to the back of my head. With another blast of lightning, Enel sent me crashing onto the rail where I lied partially conscious.

"I... can't... let you do this..." I pitifully stood up using the rail to support me. Enel was slowly walking towards me as I tried to grab him with my slowly darkening vision. My legs gave up on me and I was about to meet the deck with my face had Enel not grabbed me by the neck. He lifted me up, still holding and adding small pressure to my neck. "You won't get away with this. You've done... horrible things... and you'll... pay for it."

"So much bark, so little bite." Enel smirked and outright electocuted me, breaking the rail below me in a splinter of wood. What felt like hours was actually few minutes as Enel still held onto my neck, smothering me to make sure I won't say anything stupid. "Enjoy your new lease on life."

Enel let go of my throat where he plainly dropped me from the crashed rail. I tried to grab something, anything but only saw the rubber gloves melted into my skin as the Maxim was getting smaller and smaller.

"I failed... again..." I mumbled in mid-air as I was getting near to the ground. I was too late to stop those lightning bolts from harming people. Hopefully Luffy is fast enought to end this before it gets out of hands. "I don't know what to do with my life anymore..."

I closed my eyes and... just let myself fall to my imminent death. _"If I keep doing mistakes like these then what's the point of learning from them if you fail the second time."_ The calm wind passing my ears helped me to embrace the darkness that was slowly increasing from the corner of my eye.

"This is the sky!" I faintly heard Enel boasting as the loud thunderbolts struckt the ground I was about to meet. "The domain of God!"

_"I think a Milky Road based pizza delivery system would make a lot of sense."_

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><p><strong>[To Be Continued... or not]<strong>

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><p>There, I killed Ezekiel and give up on this story because you're all mean!<p>

Nah, just kidding, you guys are ossum... awesome... something-some! I haven't updated much, two stories withing a month is not how I roll, but there was things in my way I had to clear out and as much as it pains me to tell you... there are more...

I wanted to try something new and added the birds point of view... figuratively speaking. Expect a lot of those from random characters, hell I might even change the whole story to third-person view and that is a big maybe.

There will be skip though thanks to Jamin1227's brilliant idea. Some were expecting a lot more from Ezekiel and Robin, but I assure you that will come later on in the story. I do have something planned for them.

Now you know what the Ancient Weapon can do... or I hope you do. If not, there will be more of it in the future. I know that there are a lot of plotholes here that I'm trying to fix so be patient, or not. If not then feel free to start a riot.

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><p><strong>Glossary.<strong>

Enel's attacks:

Zeus – A non-cannon attack I made for Enel as a means to counter the Sharingan. Think of it like the Greek God Zeus throwing bolts of lightning from the Mt. Olympus. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Zeus also means fortune... if my education of playing God of War hasn't let me down.

Indra – Indra was the God of Lightning and Thunder in Indian mythology. Thought I'd put that as most of Enel's attacks were related to mythical Gods and whatnot. The attack... is... uhm... another lightning discharge except much more potent.

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><p><strong>Review response.<strong>

Yonet: Glad you liked it and yes, she'll beat him... or outsmart him that depends.

Gui: They'll have a talk and if we add his inability to sleep like a normal human being... yeah I can imagine a long talk between the two.

Cone: Oh, stop it you... you!

xxOMGgalxx: Good to know because the next chapter will focus on that.

KuroHi91: Sadist, but still thanks, he'll get manhandled more often... manhandled, that sounds dodgy. Btw, I sent the picture to your e-mail... so... what'd you say?

Xaralann: Spasibo!... hope I said it right.

Daisylovesu: Thanks for the love!

Donalgraeme: How confusing? Maybe I could fix that...

Mikila94: PM'd

Kakusei: Yeah, I get that a lot and I was wondering when people start to get it that with power comes a price. Ezekiel just doesn't know it. Thanks for the review though... and the compliment to my character and sorry to keep you – and others – waiting.

DarkDHeritage: PM'd

Thakidisbac: Addicted you say... sounds scary, I better stop writing then.

**That's all folks! Remember to review!**


	56. Glimps to the Past

**Chapter 56: Glimps to the Past.**

**Disclaimer: For every mistake I make, somebody is making an even bigger one.**

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><p>|Flashback, 8 years ago|<p>

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><p>Two years...<p>

Two years has passed since I first met this senile old fool and he's been working me to the ground saying something about ''The perfect apprentice being a must.'' - his word not mine. It did make me feel wanted but wasn't sure if I deserved his tutoring.

**BAM!**

A walking cane just met my head as master hit me with it. That was also one of the many reasons why I actually plotted a murder against him. He seems to know what I'm thinking.

"Stop pitying yourself." He ordered in that same I-know-something-you-don't-know smile. It annoyed me and I dare say he mocked me with it. "Self-pity is one of the most dangerous forms of self-centeredness. It fogs our vision." The older male chuckled as he looked around the dojo and the students. He was always smiling. I don't know how he did that, but it was mesmerizing. "The opposite of having faith is having self-pity."

"Have faith in what?" I asked with a side glance, also looking at the people doing katas. I've mellowed down a bit in these past two years of mine, but still had that nasty edge to me I'm trying to hold onto. Why? Because master said that it is part of me and loosing that part, I'll lose myself to someone else.

I still don't know what he meant by that.

"Hey! Loser!" One of the dojo's youngster, the one who beat me up with his lackeys shouted. "Fight me!"

I tilted my head to the side. Although I was eager to accept the challenge. Master said I cannot fight anyone from his dojo without his permission so I just had to sit back and take the insults head on.

"I'm sorry," I apologized through gritted teeths as I never apologized to anyone before. Not until today that is. "I have to decline your proposal." Master even forced me to be as polite as I can to everyone. Be it a enemy from the past or future.

"Oh, I see." Mick, or Dick as I like to call him in my head sneered. "Scared are we?" A tick mark appeared on my forehead. This guy was trespassing the line, and by that I mean my patient limit. There's only so much bullshit I can take.

"F-Fo-Forgive me..." I closed my eyes and clenched my fists while sitting next to master in seiza sitting-position on this hardwood floor. _"I'm still not used to this."_

"Ezekiel-kun?" The bearded man patted me on the head. "Do you have faith in yourself?"

"Yes master." I nodded while staring at Dick. Those honorifics he uses were still unknown to me. They weird me out as much as Susan does when she once used make-up. It was like watching a tranny... well, putting a make-up... that happens to be one of my quirks: lame proverb and metaphors.

"What are you waiting for?" He chuckled behind his hand. "Show me how much faith you have in yourself."

A huge grin formed on my lips. I finally get to see how far this training's been up to and top it all of I get to beat someone up. Master always talked like that and I knew now that this was one of his tests, like many others I unconsciously went through.

I got up from my spot and walked over to the guy in similar gi's than me. The difference was that I had a blood red sash while he had blue. Mine was crimson because I'm the old man's apprentice, something that I've grew accustomed and a tad bid arrogant. That is until he beat it out of me by slaughtering my ass to the ground.

As a friend, he was kind and caring. As a teacher, he was ruthless and demanding. I didn't know if he wanted the best for me or just beat me for his own amusement.

While the memory went through my brain, I put on my mask I copied from my father. A emotionless mask with cold, uncaring eyes. The perks of being around that man on regular bases. Gets the people off your personal space.

"You do got some balls." My opponent tried to taunt me, but I wasn't affected by it. No, I stood in front of him with my custom stance with my right leg outstretched forward and my weight shifted forward for a fast attack. Dick took his usual boxing style of stance. I don't know why though, maybe to insult me. "You've been the old man's lap dog till now. Lets see what you got."

I scowled and clenched my fist in anger. Said old man was like a father to me. I'd be damned to let someone as him tarnish his name. "I have more important things to do, so please, let us begin."

"If you say so." By now the whole resident of the wooden establishment sat on the walls and gave us more than enough space to ''spar''. "I'll send you back crying to your mother."

"Then I guess you'll have to kill me." I charged forward with a high jump kick. One thing I noticed that no matter how I see it. I was always much stronger, faster than most of my peers. I never knew how or why, but eventually blamed it on early puberty without the deepened voice.

My first attack was blocked by Dick's elbow and saw that the guy tried to connect his left armed hook with my jaw. I swiftly blocked the strike with my own elbow where I then tried to get a hold of the arms for a swift lock.

He seemed to notice it and take a step back. From there Dick charged at me with a forwards jab. It took me awhile to notice that it was a feint as his fist connected with my torso. The guy didn't let me take a breather as he tried – the key word, tried – to sweep my leg from underneath me. I jumped over his leg with ease, grabbed his gi and kneed him in the stomach.

I guessed that was enough as I made a distance between the two of us. _"I can't believe he got a hit on me."_ Yeah, I know, I messed up, but that really isn't a valid reason for me to get all moody about it because Dick attacked me, head on this time. He seemed to be mad at me, hell he was mad when the previous teacher got fired because of me.

What I noticed about my opponent was that he made full jabs that I narrowly dodged. _"He's using his longer arms to reach me... I could take advantage of that."_ I thought and moved far left of him. Dick shouted at his failure where he then tried to hit my head multiple times. That was because he was much taller than me and was using that to his own advantage.

Right when he made another long-armed punch, I re-directed it down and made a out-ward swipes with the back of my hand. Hitting his head about four times before I resumed my stance with my hands hovering beside me. Master said that was a standard stance to be ready for anything. There were more, but this one was my favorite and was pretty sure I could best him in this stance.

My opponent was dazed and staggered back from the heavy hit. I did notice he was angry, which I intended to use it against him. _"Why is he using his han-! Oh shit!"_ I knew he was up to something with that over the board left hook he made. The teen's fist hit the wooden dojo floor and from there he pivoted himself by shifting his body forwards. All in all, he looked like he stood on one hand and was about to kick my head with his backheel, aiming for a swift knockout.

I didn't expect that, but I knew I had to dodge that before it collides with the back of my head. Instead of dodging though, I blocked the leg with both of my hands, kicked the supporting hand off and held him in a vicious kneebar by slamming both of us into the floor. Dick screamed as I slowly added pressure to his knee. The first time master taught me this he nearly busted my kneecap. It was painful so I tried not to make him suffer too much.

I felt him tap on my thigh, saying the unspoken word that he gives up. Sighing, I let go of his and stood up, dusting myself for a job well done.

That seemed to be a mistake as Dick punched me, sending me on the floor and grabbed my gi in a vicegrip. I knew he was up to something so I had to come up with a plan to use as a leverage against him. My brain registered that my left leg was free, a big mistake as I made a bicycle kick to his head and took my distance from him all the wile glaring at him.

"Never thought you'd go this low." I commented with narrowed eyes. "I guess I gave you too much credit." Truth be told, I considered him to be my rival. I even buried my old grudge against him as master said it was a step forward for something.

"You were always light on your feet, Ezekiel." The teen said in his own scowl. "But then again, you always were good at running away."

I decided to ignore the jab and turned around, this time without letting my guard down. People like him were just a big waste of time. "Whatever..." I muttered, mostly to myself as I sat next to master and watched the students leave. Now that I see it, our fight took about 20 minutes. _"How did that happen? I could swear it was 5 minutes tops."_ So either my perception of time is wrong or is the world wrong.

"What did you learn, shrimp?" That was also one thing that old baffoon didn't give up. He constantly called me short.

"That you won't give up saying I'm short. Even if I grow up to be 10 feet taller than you."

"Correct." He chuckled.

I let out a short sigh escape my lips. The elder male was waiting for me to answer his question. "I shouldn't have hesitated."

"No," My head jerked up and I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You did right to hesitate. A leader who doesn't hesitate before he sends his nation into battle is not fit to be a leader."

I deadpanned and returned my sight back to the now empty dojo. _"Am I still angry? I know I could've ended the match without getting hit..."_

"You're not angry." The master said in one of his moments of wisdom. He seems to read me like a book; either that or he's a jedi. "You didn't hesitate either."

"Then what did I do?" He was getting on my nerves, and on summer vacation of all times. Meaning that I have to come here every other day. Except for weekends, there he would teach me meditation and other bullcrap from his home country.

"I'll let you find it out." Master stood up, took his walking cane and slumped off like a typical old man, leaving me in the middle of the dojo, alone.

"Senile old bastard..." I groaned in pain from the long period of sitting down with my sore muscles. How did I get sore muscles without hitting puberty is something I'm not keen on finding out.

My next destination was the locker room of bad memories. Well, it wasn't soo bad. Susan saved me from a hefty beating and it was thanks to her I met said ''senile old bastard'' in the first place. _"Maybe I should be more nicer to her."_

"Izzy!"

_"Speak of the devil."_ I sighed again as I felt the usual slender arms wrap around my neck. The next thing I knew, I was in a headlock or guillotine choke. Whatever comes first. "Please let go of me." I _had_ to be nice to her. She was the old man's assistant and kept bugging me whenever she had time.

"What?" She asked and did as I requested. "You said please, my little Izzy never says please." Susan said in baby and pinched my cheek. I swatted the thing off where I began to glare at her.

"Stop calling me Izzy! It's Ezekiel!" I shouted, she began calling me by that name ever since she had trouble pronouncing it. At that moment, I squashed my resolve to be nicer to her. If anything, she deserves my rudeness.

"What happened? You're all tense and grumpy." The sixteen-year-old tomboy tapped her finger against her cheek. "Nah, that can't be it. You're always tense and grumpy."

"What the fu*k's that supposed to mean?"

**BAM!**

"Language." Susan hit me in the back of my head. "Get dressed, we're going out."

"What are you, my babysitter?" I tended my occiput with a soft touch. There are only two people in this world who hit me on the head. I guessed it must have something to do with the fact that we both train under the old man. Me as the apprentice and she's more like a tutor or something. _"I'll ask her about that later. Not that I want to pry on her things."_

"Yes, now move it."

"Fine, fine. I'm going, see." I rolled my eyes on the way to the men's changing room. I did make sure that there weren't any people there as my previous experience here left a harsh blow to my psyche: paranoia.

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><p>"Summer." Susan sighed in relief once we were outside of the fighting establishment. She took a deep breath, taking all the summerish scent in the air. I did the same too, but didn't feel anything beside the usual odorless air.<p>

"Where to now?" I side-glanced at her in annoyance. I could've gone home, watched a new episode of One Piece and do... things; like sleep.

"Master said something about showing you stuff." Susan answered as I recalled the time that I can't say master's name or even think about it. He said that it's a sign of trust between us. Sure he uses another name, don't know why he does that.

Maybe he's running away from the Yakuza, I don't know. But I do know that I won't sing that name around as I hold a great deal of respect for him.

I kept following the red-haired girl, passing by people whom I spared nothing more than a mere glance. Its supposed to annoy them and as much as I'd like to stop, I can't. Annoying people is my calling ever since I assured myself to move away from here, preferably somewhere far, like Texas.

_"I heard they have drive-thru beer stands in Texas..."_ I shook my head at that. Why was I even thinking about alcoholic beverages? _"Whatever it is, I blame the old man. He is a rolemodel, but not for children." _We arrived at our destination and I was a bit put of by it. "A soccer/football field? Are you fuc-**cough**, _freaking_ kidding me?"

Susan shot me a glare I knew far too well: shut up or someone will go home in a bodybag. My survival instincs kicked in and I wisely nodded, letting her do whatever the hell she wanted to do. She aproached a man, also six feet tall as master with more caucasian background compared to the senile old bastard. What made me raise an eyebrow was that he was a coach of the said team of kids nearby trying to shoot the leather ball into the net from the 16 meter box.

"Papa!" The teen shouted and enveloped the coach in a wide, warm hug; it made me jealous. Not our relationship – which consisted either of me annoying her or she hitting me – but her close bond with her own father. Or any other parent-child relationship. "I brought the squirt."

"Really?" Susan's father said, eyeing me with some amount of analyctic experience. I tilted my head to the side and returned said expression. He did have that same facial texture as her, which explains the tomboy's slight boyish look, but his hair was black instead of the ginger that was the teen. The elder male had a typical green jumpsuit with the teams logo on the left side if his chest. "You want to join my team?"

I scowled, I always scowl if things take a drastic turn to the south. I did delay answering him and looked at the boys, about the same age as me, whispering to each other. Had they not been so far away, I would've listened to them instead of turning my head back to the coach.

"I never said I wanted." I said with my scowl turning into a slight, amused smile. "Your daughter dragged me here. Had I refused, she would've castrated me with a rusty spoon."

The coach sighed and turned to his daughter glaring viciously at me. "Suz, I said not to threaten anyone much less a boy much younger than you. I thought I raised you better than that." He crouched down on my eye level and chuckled. I was still wary of him, I don't usually let people this near me unless I beat them to a pulp. "I'd like to start over; would you like to participate in our try-outs?"

I tilted my head to the side in confusion. "Try-out? As in I'll just have to be here, kick ball and be out?"

"Pretty much."

"Meh, might as well." I glanced at the fuming Susan whom I ratted out on her own father. "Not that I have better things to do with my time." Why did she even bring me here? I want to sleep plus I'm hungry. _"I swear, if I get hungry now I'll take my frustation out on those kids." _Hell, I even made a plan to knock that stupid bowl cut haired kid out of the picture and what made all of this worse was that I don't know shit about this sport.

I shrugged, if worse comes to worse I'll improvise.

"Great," The coach yelled with excitement. "I'm sure you'll make lots of friends here!"

Now I was downright angry. So that's her plan, huh? Alright, I can deal with that. If she wants me to make friends, I'll make friends: through fear. It was a battlefield tactic my father once ranted at me after I got detention from school. He said if I want people to leave me alone, start it by making them fear you.

_"Can't break bones, but no one said anything about bruises. Those shits happen in these kinds of things."_ I nodded with a snort. As if I'll fall for that trick again.

"Alright team! I want you to meet your new training buddy!" Susan's father patted me on the shoulder. "Say hello to..." He trailed off, probably wanted me to introduce myself.

"Ezekiel... no last name needed." It felt weird, I don't like being stared by a group of naïve, _innocent_ children. The kids looked at each other and tried to pronounce my name. "Ezek is just fine." I let them brainstorm that while I tied those button shoes or whatever. At least he found my size.

* * *

><p>It took me long to get used to, but I got the hang of this sport. I mostly went with pure speed as Susan caught me staring at those kids like a predator. I never knew why: I was always fast no matter how much I tried to train my strenght.<p>

Nevertheless, I blamed it on puberty.

"So, did you learn anything?" Susan sat next to me as I took those pesky shoes off.

"If you call: dominating, learning then yeah, I _learned_ something." I replied with as much sarcasm as I could muster. This was not only humiliating, but also those kids tried to befriend me. Sure I could be rude when I want to, not when I need to. So I just shook their hands and left. _"I'm getting soft these days."_ I shook my head with a small, barely noticeable smile. "Why did you bring me here? Was it because you wanted me to meet other kids my age?"

"That too." She offered me a bottle of water I eagerly took. While I was drinking the warm, sun heated water, I gave Susan a look and waited for more. "Papa needs help in his team and knowing your speed I thought you'd make a great addition."

"Did it occur to you that I might not be intrested?" My eyebrow twitched violently. She only had to ask and be off with it.

"C'mon!" She whined and gave me a pout. "Have you seen yourself? You're a loner, you hate nearly everything, never smile or even bother to make any friends. I'm trying to help you, Izzy. Not all those people are the same."

I took a deep breath, still tasting the odorless air around me. Now that I've done that crap now, I'll head straight home and sleep this day out. I gently stood up from the wooden bench and bowed to Susan not because she's my senior, but because she is the closest friend I ever had.

Not that I'll ever admit.

"I don't know, Susan." I shook my head and walked off. "Maybe this is how I want to be." I wasn't sure if she heard me. Knowing her, she probably did hear me as that girl has her ways of eavesdropping on people.

* * *

><p>My walk back home was the same as usual, but with more lushy trees, polluted air, cars and annoying fu*king people. I ignored those and opened the front door of our two-story flat. Nothing gradious, just few rooms and other necessities you have in a house. What surprised me was that we had quests, real live guest, actual human beings.<p>

"Something's wrong." I scowled and followed the two voices coming from the living room. If there's anything I learned in my little survival expedition is that stealth is everything. That or I just like to hide from everything, including reality.

I arrived to our living room with white and blue interior. Nothing too fancy, but certainly extravagant compared to other peoples apartment. The whole place – including the shelf – had some type of marine color in it.

No wonder I spend my time outside.

"Hey," A girlish voice called once I stepped inside the living room. I looked at the source of the voice and spotted a girl, few years older than me with chestnut brown hair and blue-eyes. She had that light, caribbian background in her if the tanned skin gave me any indication to believe she's from the Central America. "is that him?"

She was pointing at me, which I found was oddly rude.

"That's him alright." My father said, this time looking me with a raised eyebrow. "Where have you been?"

I returned the gesture, albeit mine was that of confusion instead of intrest. _"Since when do you care?"_ I would've said that out loud had that older version of the girl not aproached me.

"You must be Ezekiel I've heard so much." The woman walked over to me and I kept taking steps back away from her. She noticed that and much to my relief stopped. "What's wrong? Don't you like me?"

"I don't like strangers..." I narrowed my eyes and hefted the heavy backpack off my shoulder.

"Oh, forgive me about that." She apologized with her hand on her chest. "My name is Veronica." The woman pointed to her mini-me. "That is my daughter, Karen."

"Hello!" Karen beamed from her spot on the couch. "Here, sit next to me."

"I'd rather not..." I replied and felt a bit bad for turning her down. Not sure why. "...I'm sweaty and father doesn't like me ruining the furniture."

I glanced at my father with a calculating look. He never had visitors, ever, and now these two look like they've known each other for years. Childhood friends? Maybe, but it was hard to believe him being social to another living person. Even if said person is a friend or suborbinate of his.

"Great, I'll see you after you showered." The teen smiled and waved when I walked upstairs. I don't know what was going on.

I decided to just forget about it. By the end of this day, everything will go back to how it is in this silent house.

The shower was great, took me about 10 minutes to get the grime off. I walked over to the mirror with the use of ladders and looked at myself. My hair has grown a bit from my last hair cut about few months ago. Made me look a tad bit intimidating with the bangs nearly covering my eyes. I didn't know what was with me. I thought that my hair styles itself into a perm, but instead I got this silky, dark hair. Mother had straight black hair, maybe I got hat from her.

I shook my head and wrapped a towel around my waist. _"Better not think about it..."_ I dried my hair with my other towel and walked out of the bathroom only to meet the same girl whom I'm supposed to meet after shower sitting on my bed. She had a plate of something that looks like a taco, but its not. There was also a glass of milk in her other hand completed with a genuine smile. _"What is with this girl?"_

"Took you long enough." She said and offered me the dish. "Here, I made you something while you were out. We didn't expect you to come this late so I had to heat this in the microwave."

"And _this_ is?" I inquired in my usual skeptical voice.

"Chimichanga!"

"The hell is that?" I sat next to her after I put on my grey shirt. "Looks like a vomit wrapped around in another vomit."

"Just taste it. I guarentee that you'll love it."

"No."

"Come on..."

"No."

"One bite is all I ask." She was persistent, I'll give her that much. "Mr. Vane liked it."

"What?" I turned to her, this time with a disbelief expression. "Your telling me that _he_, of all people, likes something?"

"Yup, and if it weren't for my mother he would've eaten it all."

_"What manner of sorcery is this!"_ There was absolutely no way that man is capable of liking something. I mean, look at me. I'm 10-years-old and I can tell he hates my guts. "Fine, I'll eat your stupid Chirimiracha."

"Chimichanga."

"Whatever." I took the deep-fried burrito and brought it close to my nose. It smells good, looks good, so it must be good. That in mind, I took a sizable chunk of it, if only to see what my father liked about the burrito. _"There's rise, cheese, ground beef, salsa, guacamole, sour cream and more cheese... hmm... what is this?"_ I savored it in my mouth and gulped down. Few seconds later my tongue felt like it was on fire. "Hot, hot, hot...! What is this! What did you do!"

"Crap..." Karen mumbled and started to panic a bit. "Sorry, my problem. I tried to make a dish of my own, but ended up spicying the food with too much chili and jalopeno."

"It hurts." I panted with tears in the corner of my eyes. "I could cry now..."

"Toughen up you big baby. It's not _that_ bad." She took the same chimichanga and bit a hefty amount of it. Just like me – after few seconds of waiting – her mouth began to heat up and we found ourself suffering.

"This is all your fault!" I shouted with my finger pointed at her.

"How is this my fault!" She wasn't fairing that much. The teen was actually sweating bullets. "It was an accident!"

"Accident my ass! You were planning to kill me, is that it!"

"No!" We continued to bicker to each other, but it only made our mouths boil in intense heat. That's when we looked at the sole milk on my night table waiting for someone to drink it.

"THE MILK!"

Me and Karen looked at each with vicious eyes. Survival going through our heads as we bolted towards the glass of milk to quell the pain.

"Move it, kid!" Karen shouted and managed to push me away much to my surprise.

_"No one pushes me!"_ I took two quick steps forwards and gave a light kick to the back of her knee which got her to stumble a bit. Next one's tricky as I have to restrain her in case she tries something. Unfortunately, she wouldn't let as me as my second opponent of today grabbed my towel.

_"Oh god no!"_

Karen pulled the piece of absorbent fabric off and grabbed the glass of milk while I tried to cover my half naked butt with the discarded towel. Luckily I was fast enough to retrive it, but it cost me dearly.

"Ah, much better." She grinned a victorious grin at me and set the glass of milk down. "Should've seen your face, priceless."

I ignored her as I ran to the bathroom for a drink. _"She'll pay... she will definitely pay." _I thought with venom when her picture came to my mind. I felt embarassed, humiliated even, but most of all, something that was odd and yet right at the same time, I felt joy. This whole day began from worse and ended up like this. Before I knew what the hell was happening, I started to laugh at my own misfortune and the lessons today.

Maybe people aren't so bad after all...

Maybe I should trust others to trust myself...

_"...Maybe that is what he meant by having faith in yourself..."_

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><p><strong>[To Be Continued]<strong>

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><p>Whew, the backstory is done and I think I did a pretty good job by making ''Izzy'' open up to people. He'll start out like that, but eventually gets to his current mood through odd means. I decided that these backstories move by two years in every chapter with few fastforwards in it. If some of you are worried about him sometimes telling the truth, then no worries, I got that planned out and I don't intend to spoil.<p>

Leave a review and I shall update sooner... ah crap, I forgot, April fools day already went.

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><p><strong>Review response.<strong>

Cone: Thanks, it's always good to get those kind of reviews. While you did increase my ego to new hights, that goes without a saying that I feel obliged to write them more. Not sure about the natural writer, everyone is a natural writer, you just have to have the will to write... type. Also, yeah, I do have plans for Izzy in the near future. I could – not really – guarantee you that the next chapter answers some unanswered answers, hope that made sense.

thakidisbac: Don't worry, I won't stop... that is until I get sued by writing this story. Ezekiel won't read it, someone else will, if he trusts the one who's capable of reading.

Gui: Thanks for the review, you were close about getting a week long sleep, but not close enough. He'll talk to Robin, yes, but not before trying to avoid her. Luffy is doing whatever the hell he usually does when someone close to him gets hurt.

xxOMGgalxx: Maybe, maybe not, I can't say and frankly don't know. I just write things to mess with you people.

Daisylovesu: He'll survive alright. The Key of Tartarus is the giant Poneglyph in his head, yes and thanks for the cheer.

D.C Anilai: I plan to do a lot of things really. Great I could surprise someone who's hard to surprise. About the Richard guy, I find him awesome and he will make a cameo appearance here. Just not in the way you'll expect. I'll try to update more regularly, but do expect them to be... incorrectly written.

MusicOfMadness: I'm just trying something new here, don't worry.

Mikila94: PM'd, I doubt anyone here understands the gibberish that is the finnish language.

DarkDHeritage: Take your time, I got my sketch ready in a minute, hour, day, week... sometimes later in the future. Ezekiel will do a lot of stuff with the stone, like burn Mariejois... well not really burn, but something else.


	57. Waking Up In A Stronghold

**Chapter 57: Waking Up In A Stronghold.**

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><p><strong>Note: You guys will probably hate me for this.<strong>

**Warning: This chapter – and probably the next one – contains some amount of rantings from Ezekiel's part.**

**Disclaimer: It's weird how every smart person agrees with me.**

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><p>A groan escaped my throat when I finally regained conscious. The first thing I noticed... or rather felt, was that I was in a bed, a uncomfortable bed that smelled more of a sweat than an actual bed I'm accustomed to. My nose picked up a smell of dirt, damp athmosphere and some amount of sterile; probably alcohol. I kept hearing some weird noises, but dismissed them being as something unworthy of my attention since my eyes were shut.<p>

Feeling... what was I feeling? Pain, that was obvious, sore muscle, the familiar feeling of cracked ribs, dried mouth and extreme hunger. Not to mention I felt dizzy and can't remember anything, literally.

_"I remember, lightning, lots of lightning... at least that's the most fresh memory I have. That and breeze with a side order of pain." _I thought to myself, not really trusting of my voice. I did trust my eyes and slowly opened them to see a rocky ceiling above me. My eyebrow rose slowly as a new memory slammed me on the head. _"Now I remember clouds, sky, birds..."_

Everytime my memory surfaced, the anger kept rising until I stood up from my bed. The force was enough to break whatever restrains were holding me still on the bed. "ENEL-! **Cough!** **Cough!**" I finally shouted, but ended up slumping back on the stone-slab bed with a burning thorax. Everything came back full force; Skypiea about to be destroyed, Enel, me loosing to Enel – twice, the Priests, Félix, Fuza... everyone.

"Hey, did you hear that?" A unknown male voice rung around this place. I quickly went back to bed, pulled the covers to hide what looked like straps and positioned myself as I was before my unpleasant wake. "I swear I heard something."

"Me too." Another voice said, suspicious dripping from his mouth. I guessed he was the smart one of the now identified two-man cell looking at... a cell? "Did the pirate wake up?"

_"What am I doing in a cell?"_ I thought in with a slight remorse. This wouldn't be the first time I visited this joint. _"Better yet, why am I in a underground tunnel of all places."_ Not that it was hard to figure out with all the echoing and stuff. Still, no one wants to be in this place without knowing what they did.

My jailors, healers, whatever, stood right in front of the cell, or so it looked like with the shadows melted in those the dark cages. "No, must've been a nightmare."

"Maybe..." The suspicious voice sighed. "You should have seen him when we found the pirate. He was in a pretty bad shape. Thought he wouldn't survive."

_"By the way he said ''pirate'' I guess their ''marines''."_ I began to breath more raggedly. Not that I was sick or anything, just to prove that their theory of me having a nightmare was true.

"See, he's probably dreaming of him being executed." The first marine hollered with a resounding voice that gave me an apperance of a bulky man. "There's still more of those pests slithering in our facility. It's only a matter of time before we find them."

_"Luffy and the others are here?"_ At first I contemplated with the fact of them abandoning me, but shook that off. The Straw Hat captain would never stoop so low. The problem now: I have no idea where I am. I did know I was in a brig, but which kind, where and why?

"Why don't we just kill him? Save us and a lot of other people some trouble." A third, malicious voice recommended. The fact that they wanted to kill me entered my mind. I knew there was something wrong with this world. Everything is not as grey as it seems. People do harbor fear and with that hatred.

**Click!**

Apparently they do want to kill me in my ''sleep'' if the unlocked cell door hinted something. The other two did protest, but let it go once the idea of ''one less pirate in the world'' entered their minds.

A shadowed figure hovered above me with a good amount of Killing Intent. I did notice something sharp glittering in the dark cell lighted by few lamps behind them. It made this whole experience seem like a pagan ritual. Instead of a sheep or a virgin girl, their using me.

Just when the knife – or the sharp object – was forcibly brought down. I grabbed the skinny hand right before it hit my chest, inches before it would've pierced my heart. That move hurt, but thanks to few drops of adrenaline from my part, I was able to throw the rest of the cover off and break my supposed assassins arm.

"Gah!" He shouted and dropped to the ground with his now identified stiletto. I quickly picked it up and held it in a reverse grip in front of me. "He's up! Detain the scum, now!"

I guessed he was their superior, no wonder they let him get to me so easily. I thought marines were all about justice and that I get a fair trial or at least my rights set out for me. Now that I was fully up, I noticed being in a pair of orange/black stripped short and was covered in bandages. "Dammit, I look like a hobo..." I mumbled and dodged a haymaker from the bulky marine who crashed onto the wall behind me. The other marine, this one seemingly average in built with average marine uniform pointed his musket at me. How did I not notice that was beyond me.

I paniced with the thought of being shot at. In a anime no less. If I want to get shot at, I'd move to Camden, New Jersey. I used my superior speed to evade the bullets pathway and grabbed the musket before he shoots someone. With a quick flick, I hit the but of the weapon to his jaw and disarmed the marine only to be tackled off by the bulky marine. The force was enough to make my back ache by the rock wall that's supposed to keep the criminals in.

"Fucker..." I whispered under my breath. Those guys were getting on my nerves, not that it was difficult as I was injured and not to mention hungry._ "I better wrap this up pronto."_

The musket marine aimed the weapon at me again, but had to drop it when his comrade charged forward. He was about to send another aimless fist that I swiftly sidestepped. The bulky marine stumbled forward, I followed it up with a rising knee strike to his abdomen, effectively banishing all air from his lung. I finished the whole experience by interwining my fingers and brought it fiercely down to the back of his head, knocking him out cold.

"Halt! Pirate," The last remaining pirate – beside the shouting one complaining about his arm – aimed his musket at me again. "Hands up and down on your knees."

"Ew, I don't swing that way... in a prison of all places too." I deadpanned with a low voice, but was sure he could hear me thanks to the small echo.

"That's not what I meant!" He readied the old, muzzle-loaded gun I thought was more of a decoration than an actual gun. "As a marine of Navarone, I won't let any pi-!" Here I stopped him with a baffled look.

"Navarone? As in the G-8 stronghold?"

"Y-Yes... how did..." I of course ignored the guy despite being aimed with a armgun that was as old as my late mentor. "Don't ignore me!"

"Jesus H tap dancing Christ... how long was I out?" That seemed to get the marine angry. He pulled the trigger right after I ''teleported'' behind him and knocked him out with a swift blow to the back of his head. "Man, what's your problem?" I shouted at the unconscious marine while the remaning one backed away in fear. He would've escaped had I not blocked the exit and picked up the old musket. "I'm taking this gun away from you mister. You're obviously not mature enough to handle it. Now you... sleep... there and dream what you've done. Trying to shot me. If I didn't know any better it seemed like you wanted to kill me."

"Don't hurt me, please!"

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't?" The skinny marine shivered once we made eyecontact. Then something unusual happened, the guy passed out. "Cool... if I could do that on daily bases, then I could solve all my problems in like, one day." I grinned and strapped the musket behind my back with a nifty strap I found from the knocked out marines pouch I also took. There was nothing important there; few cigarettes, lighter, a wallet, ID-card. "What do they need an ID-card for?"

Shrugging, I walked out of the cell and locked it after hiding the unconscious marines in a area where the light doesn't reach them. I did make sure that the average built marine ''rests'' on my guest bed as I put it.

"Let's see..." I looked at the two way tunnel. "Left, right... I'll take right, because the last time I went left I ended up fighting two Priests in a row." A sigh of frustation escaped my lips once I caught the sight of my seal wristband gone. I have to find that one, it still contains most of my weapons and miscellaneous things. Can't make a new one without destroying that one.

So I kept walking forward, gazing at the lamps and other empty cells. What put me on guard was those flickering bulbs of light that gave a omnious feeling. That wasn't the only one as my knees shook, not in fear, but in severe exhaustion. My breath was ragged, I was constantly sweating and my stomach kept growling at me. Next thing I knew I was on my knees, gripping my left eye in massive pain whilst the still flickering lamps kept mocking me.

"**You can call me a _parasite_...**" A evil, dark voice echoed inside my head. I had this weird feeling that someone or _something_ was breathing over my shoulder. It wasn't human nor animal, it was something far more sinister than that. Despite my initial fear, the voice came back and with the pain in my left eye socket. "**Travelling to worlds, consuming _life_ at its pride...**" The voice began to sound much more... hungrier, demanding, ruthless. It felt so... wrong, this kind of entity shouldn't exist. No words could describe that and I was absolutely terrified by it.

"What?" My own breath was labored, as if that evil voice alone left me breathless. "Who's there!" I shouted in fear, constantly looking behind my back. "Show yourself!"

"**I need you... and you need _me_!**" Now the voice was restless, like it would emerge from the shadows and... devour me on the spot.

I gripped my head with my sweaty hands and blocked my ears to ease the exponentially increasing headache. "Get out of my head!"

"**Now take me to your world _HUMAN_!**"

I don't know what got into me, but I knew I had to run. Anything to get away from the voice that seemingly haunted me, stalked me, the voice that wanted to kill me. I ran forward and ignored everything in front of me as I had problems maintaining my sanity.

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" I kept running with my eyes shut and gripping my head in agony. That is until I hit my head onto something solid, knocking me unconscious.

* * *

><p>"Ugh," I groaned the second time today. "what the hell was that?" The voice was gone, thank goodness, but it left me scared. I'm not scared much of anything beside the few horror movies. I knew they were just that, movies, and they can't hurt me. But... whatever the hell that was, it was real and that thought alone made me full of dread.<p>

I stood up from the stone floor and looked at myself. Yup, still the same with a light headache, but at least the voice is gone. "It's official, I did lost whatever sanity I had left." I commented to myself and looked where I bumped my head onto. What surprised me wasn't that it was made out of steel, but that the thing was a door. Who the hell uses steel as a door? How the hell am I supposed to leave? I can't melt steel much less cut one like Zoro does. I could pierce it with my Chidori but that would take forever.

_"What the hell, what the hell, what the hell..."_ First I find myself in a cell about to be killed by marines, heard freaky voices in my head and now this. I can already tell that this is going to be a fun day. _"If I was a wizard this wouldn't be happening."_

It was a surprise no one checked on me. You would think that with all the shouting would gather few heads, but no, none of these blue/whites were intrested.

_"What's this?"_ I looked at the side of steel door that looked more like a blast door and saw a keypad where normally a doorknob would be. "Let's see here..." I mumbled to myself. There was a small line next to the keypad. Nodding, I took out the ID-card and slid the card in. "What now?" The thing made few noises and asked me to put the correct code. "Crap, not this again... okay, code... numbers... only numbers... I'm good at numbers."

I tried using something classic. "1-2-3-4."

**Beep!**

"No? Well, 4-8-4-8."

**BEEP!**

This alarm was much more louder and I guessed that I have one more try left before this door either detonates or welcomes a bunch of marines here.

"Uhm... 1-3-3-7."

**Click!**

Now that was something I wanted to hear. I opened the door and was greeted by a basic hallway of the marines. A dull, grey blue hallway. The color nearly made me gag, I hate depressing colors.

"You know, as much as I'd like to claim that this is the result of me being a genius. It's more like that someone else was not." I walked forward and kept walking like I usually do; swift and silent. It was part of my traning too where I had to do those step-training my mentor put me through. Helps my balance. "Dammit, I forgot to ask where they hide the items confiscated from pirates."

Great, I don't have weapons, any shinobi worth their salt have weapons on them at all times. I do have the stiletto, that should probably count for something.

"Hey, you hear that?" Again the same sentence, but different marine. Sometimes I like to think that the marines are all a bunch of voicemail robots. There are like millions of those with the same voice. "I thought I heard something."

_"Your just imagining it..." _I mouthed out right above them. Humans are so predictable, none of them bother to look up. _"Humans...? Where did that come from?"_

"Your just imagining it..." His partner answered with a sigh. "Stay alert, the pirates are still roaming around. We only found two of them with one of them severely injured."

I was annoyed, not because Zoro got caught, no, it's just that I was injured this much by the prick Enel no less. Hell I can't even mold chakra properly with being hurt like that. _"Whatever, they'll get out of there sooner or later. That, and I need to rest more. It seems I'm running low today."_

I watched the patrol look around a bit and moved away. They did take notice to the opened steel door and blaimed it on those rookie marines I dispatched off. He either meant they were new or wet behind the ears marines. Either way, they tried to kill me, should be lucky I didn't outright slaughter them.

"I better find my tag... and clothes... and food." My stomach grumbled in pain. "And this place is supposed to be peaceful. Can't even sleep properly without anyone trying to murder you."

* * *

><p>"Impregnable stronghold, G-8~! Pirates can attack all they like~!" I was bored out of my mind. Even those marines I beat up minutes ago weren't any help. "Goddammit, I've been here before!" I shouted once I saw the same door I escaped from. Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself down and blamed this on Zoro. <em>"Alright, alright. I'm just going to keep moving forward. I'm not ready to believe that this whole facility is a giant, fucking möbius strip!"<em>

I gazed above me and raised an eyebrow. "A vent access? Die Hard has shown me the way once again!" Air vents saved me a lot of time when I was in Alabasta, they can save me now. It took me some time, but I eventually got inside the rectangle, metal tube. Thank you whatever deity who cleaned this place. Had this been dirty, I would've rammed those unconscious marines here.

"Maybe I should become a tour guy after this. I'm good at acting like I know where the hell I'm going, follow me." It was dark in the vent, but I could see a bit in front of me. I just have to be quite.

That plan would've worked had not those cockroaches ''ambushed'' me. "AAH! Bugs!" I quickly took out my stiletto and stabbed them to death. "Die, die, die, die, die!"

**Clank! Bang! Thud! Crash!**"

Not the most stealthiest aproach, but I just can't help it: I hate those things. Unless they can talk and are mutated that is. "You guys can't follow me! You don't have any money! That's the whole point! Where the hell did you come from anyway?" I crawled forward and saw a two-way path in front of me. "Oh no, not this again... well, now I'll take the left side. That must be the right way, as supposed to _my_ way."

I kept crawling and saw something in front of me: light. And you know what they say about lights at the end of the tunnel... crampy vent? I couldn't see who was there, so I had to get out.

"Halt! Pirate!" Should've known that of all places I landed right in the middle of the marine changing room.

"This sucks ass!" I ducked down under a fist and swiped the marines legs of with my right leg. From there I leaped backwards to observe my opponents. There were 5 of them so I took out my stiletto and held it in reverse grip. Two of them charged at me and by the look of it, they were unarmed.

I grabbed a fist aimed at me from the front and jumped over the other guy who tried to tackle me from below. Once I landed back down, I judo threw the first marines into a pile of dirty garments. The rest of the 5-squad marine ganged up on me, so I jumped again and stuck on the ceiling with the help of chakra.

"What?" A marine questioned, but was too occupied with his train of thought to dodge the heel-drop I slammed on the back of his head. He dropped to the ground unconscious, leaving me to deal with 3 marines.

"Be on your guard! He's Eze-!" I didn't let him finish as I charged and elbowed his face and broke his nose. He squirmed on the ground holding his nose, letting me focus more on the last remaining justice thugs.

"Why you..." The other two marines attacked me from the sides. I backflipped away from them and chuckled seeing them crash into each other, knocking themself out. I looked at the other marine whose nose I broke, but had to groan that he passed out. Whether it was because of fear or bloodloss will forever be a mystery to me.

**Rumble! Rumble!**

_"I feel like I've never ever eaten anything in my entire life – which is freaking me out."_

Shrugging, I rummaged through the guys lockers. Hopefully I find something warm to put on. The vent tends to be cold with its breeze and metal. What I found from the locker was a plain, orange hoodie with a panda dancing techno in the front. It looked comfy, so why not.

"I like how the hoodie's colored bright orange. I think it makes people want to shoot me in the torso instead of the head." Now I started to regret putting it on. It made me look like that retard Naruto. "So, should I take it off or leave it on; the strippers dilemma. I don't mind walking around naked, its the weirdoes I mind."

I could take those marine clothes, but I don't wanna lose my identity. _"I do have issues ordering my __priorities."_ At least I know my first mission: find Daxter. He'll back me on this story. _"If I were a __orange precursor with a napoleon-complex, where would I be?"_

**Rumble! Rumble!**

That was the sound of my stomach demanding food, again. "I best be moving." I looked at air vent above me and sighed. "Well... there's nothing I can do. Back to my life as a mole then."

The crawling continued, this time I used the other path I dismissed and landed on a cafeteria. A cafeteria full of marines who apparently finished their meal right after I landed.

"Pirate!"

"Stop!"

"You're under arrest!"

They all pulled out their cutlasses and pointed the tip at me. There were about 20 of them, so this will take some amount of time.

**Rumble! Rumble!**

Or not.

My stomach growled again. I needed food or else I'm gonna hurt someone. "Can we please get me some food? I can't remember how I got here. I'm starving, smell like crap, tired, I need to find my crew so we can leave."

"We do not negotiate with criminals!" One of the more braver individual exclaimed.

"Can't I just have something small to eat then?" I tried everything, even the puppy-eyes I copied from Luffy, but had no effect on those. "Heartless bastards. It's always pirate this, pirate that. I was about to be murdered by one of your comrades and I forgive you for that. If you all were asleep by now, I would've left you alone... after emptying your food that is."

"He has a gun!" Another marine behind me pointed out. "He's trying to trick us!"

"Oh for fuck's sake!" This is why I hate marines. They couldn't be civil and they all remind me of my father just by being marines.

* * *

><p>It took me awhile to smack those guys out, but if anything, it was therapeutic. "They could try and stab me <em>after<em> I get something to eat. There should be a unspoken rule amongs us men that if a man is hungry, he should eat... in peace" I had to use the Earth Flash technique to fry some of them out. I don't want to die by hunger, I want to die a true warriors death; death by snu snu.

I looked around and walked through a random door, because I exhausted every possible way above me. Further more, there wasn't any food here. Those bastards ate them all before I got here.

Now, if I remember it correctly – which I don't – they should have left the ship together, leaving me on the ship to be prisoned. I unconsciously turned another corner, beat up more marines patrolling while wondering if they'll ever end. I was about to ask some of them a question, but had to knock them out before being shot at.

A intresting sight befall me. What those two marines were guarding was actually a ''heavily guarded'' armory of sorts. If I had a mirror now, I would've sported the biggest grin ever. Marines plus armory equals things that blow up. I'm good at math.

I used the ID-card thing and walked inside the room where I was disappointed by what was in the armory. The room wasn't that big, it was also filled with ammos, these weird anime rifles and few satchel charges.

Wait, satchel charges?

I picked up the explosive demolition bag and studied it for a second. Yeah, just as I expected, a bag of C4 with a long-distance remote control of 500 meter radius. Not too fancy, but still highly unexpected in this world. This one was a bit more heavier than the one my grandpa uses as a decoration, which would mean that this has a lot more bang in it.

"I think three will do me. I'd test one right now, but I don't wanna level the building until I'm out of it." I really do wanted to blow things up. Especially this goddamned facility who tried to kill me.

I shook my head at that, what done is done and in the end I only got myself to blame. So, I walked out of the armory, strapped the satchels on either side of my waist with one on my hand and trudged around. I still didn't know where the hell I was.

You'd think that Daxter would sniff my scent by now. I wish I had a heightened sense of smell...

* * *

><p>So I kept walking around some more, turned yet another corner when a voice, this time a female stopped me.<p>

"Ezekiel-kun!"

I stopped in my tracks and looked around for that voice. The only thing I saw was a orange-haired female in a marine uniform giving me a hug. I did contemplate whether I should knock him/her out, but luckily managed to identify _her_ as Nami before that happens.

"Yo." I chuckled and returned the hug seeing as it was customary from where I come from.

"I-we were all worried about you! Are you alright?" She was worried alright, kinda made me sad knowing it was my doing.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." I decided not to tell anyone about those weird voices. Better not even think about them.

"Sure?" Nami tried to confirm, she even went so far to open one of my eye.

"Yes, mom..." I sighed and looked at her in that outfit. "Care to explain why was I left behind?"

She dumbly scratched behing her head, a feat I didn't expect her to pull up. "Well, you see, it's a long story so I'll make it short. You were in a serious condition and couldn't move nor disturb you so this was our best bet."

"Ugh," I groaned and rubbed my left eye again. "Did it occur to you that I was nearly assasinated?"

"What?" She was surprised with widened brown eyes. "B-But their marines?"

"That they are," I nodded, "They did it because I was a threat to them so I suggest you'll be on your guard."

Nami looked around a bit, probably to ensure were safe from the marines I knocked out. "That's weird..."

"What is weird?"

"I haven't seen a lot of marines walking around here."

"Oh yeah, that." I nodded to myself and gave a mental pat to my back. "I knocked dozens of them and cramped the lot of them inside the cafeteria." Serves them right, I asked nicely and this is what I get: hostility.

"Why would you do that!" She shouted with a fist held in front of me. "This is a Marine base. You can't do that..."

"I already did that." I walked forward and decided that my next location would be a place where I'll get food.

"You'll get us caught!" Nami shouted again behind me, but I could feel her catching up. She sighed and kept glancing at me here and now. "What's with the musket and those bags?"

"Spoils of war." I replied while looking forward in our random direction.

"So you'll just keep it." Nami deadpanned.

"Wouldn't you?" I inquired and saw her tilt that head of hers to the side. "If it were made out of gold that is."

"Yes, because it's valuable."

"And so does this musket too. There are only two kinds of objects in this world: those you want to keep as a memento and those you sell for few mere bucks." I shrugged my shoulders to get the weapon hoisted up. "So, Nami-chan..." I drawled out a bit, but quickly regained my bearings as I had trouble keeping my poker face everytime I added that suffix. It's just weird and crazy, I know I'm not crazy and that's just crazy. "Do you know where Merry-chan is?"

"Of course not." Nami glared, although it wasn't bad since she knew I was unaware of the happenings, she still didn't approve of me beating marines up.

"Very well, let's head to the kitchen."

"Why would we head there?" The navigator poked me in the ribs, making me wince from the contact. Despite that, she continued poking the side of my torso. "There's bound to be hundreds of marines eating there."

"I don't care. I want something to eat or you'll have to drag me around here. And believe me, last thing you want is seeing me rampaging around and demanding food. Like a certain someone."

"Geez, fine then." She swiftly grabbed my hand and pulled me to another direction. "I remember seeing a warehouse where they store food so you'll have to eat something cold."

"As long as I can break it down into proteins is good enough for me." I noticed that Nami's hand were soft, incredibly soft. It made me relax that I was taken care off, by her of all people. _"Maybe I gave her too little credit..."_ I shook my head, I'm starting to have feelings. "Man, nachos would be something right now. I can imagine a big bowl of nachos, covered in cheese, quacamole, sourcreme, salsa... you know, mexican stuff."

"What are you talking about?" Nami looked behind her with a small side-glare, but I did notice a small blush in her cheek. She did keep that glare for about two more seconds and quickly averted them.

Women, how do they work?

* * *

><p>We finally arrived to the warehouse of the marines and changed stories. It was mostly her talking and me listening. She told me that Félix was vouched for by Gan Fall and surprisingly Wiper. They said they'll forgive him if he accepts being the old man's bodyguard, which he did and I'm glad that it turned out well. We all deserve a second chance.<p>

"The party was great: people were dancing with each other, we found lots of gold and Luffy beat Enel as a revenge for what he did to you." Nami looked down at her feet. We were behind a rather large crate of goods. A lot of it being fruit and veggies. I even found a small refrigerator containing few lumps of frozen meat I cooked with the stiletto and a small Katon ninjutsu. "I wish you would've been there with us. Everyone were sad that you didn't join them."

"Weawy? (Really?)" I asked through a mouthful of oranges she found for me. It made her giggle, usually she would've find that action disgusting.

"Yeah, but we knew you'd get angry for worrying about you so Luffy promised to save some of the party for you."

"And how's he gonna do that?"

"Beats me." We both shared a laugh. It was actually these times that made me want to talk to her more often. She knows I hate small talks just as much as I know she hates my pranks and idiocy. "But I'm still mad at you, Ezekiel-kun."

"What did I do?" I again kept my food streak on.

"Challenging Enel all alone!" Nami raised her voice to that of a complaining house wife. It reminded me of my stepmom. "Are you out of your mind!"

Yes.

"No." She was about to open her mouth, but I held my hand to her with a serious gaze. "I know you and the others don't approve, but I had to do it. My job is to look after you guys, even if you hate me for doing so." I smiled at her, which did make her blush a little. "It's what I do."

"What about me?" Nami fidgeted in her seat of small crates. I'm not good talking with women. Should I try the comforting type or the broody asshole. Choices, choices...

"You guys manage without me. Luffy's strong, he did what I expected him to do."

"And that is?" At least her previous countenance was changed into a more curious one.

"Grow stronger. Not that it's hard for him. He is the captain for a reason." I stood up and dusted myself of whatever dirt or dust I had in me. "Come, let's go and find the others." I offered my hand to her, which she took. That was a relaxing conversation we just had. Hopefully there will be more. "So... cabinboy..."

"I'm warning you, Ezekiel-kun." Nami raised her fist again in front of my face.

"I assume you don't like the job." I more like stated with a chuckle. "Now you know how I feel whenever I have to clean after you."

"I don't mess around! I always clean my stuff!"

"Their mess, is your mess I have to clean." I sagely nodded my head. That did earn me a punch to the head, but noticed it wasn't that painful. Maybe she was being careful not to injure me, though I may deserve that. "Now onto mission #2."

"Please don't tell me you're still hungry." Nami groaned and rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"No, I need to find my tag." I showed her my bare left arm.

"Can't you make a new one?"

"Do you have any idea how long it took me to perfect that? Usually I need a scroll, but imprinting a storage seal into a wristband is a hard and delicate work." I crossed my arms over my chest and looked away.

"Right..." Nami nodded, still a bit peeved from my earlier ass-whopping from Enel. I could've died there you know. "I thought this would come up so I saved it for you."

"Really?" I grinned at her. "Where is it?"

The navigator blushed and took the ink scribbled rubber wristband from... between her cleavage. "Here."

I carefully nodded and received the lost item of mine. "Uhm, thanks?"

"Don't mention it." I wasn't really sure if I should wrap this around my arm. If I do, I'm a pervert. If I don't, I'm... well, a laughing stock to the male race world wide. So, I ended up stuffing the thing into my pouch for later use.

"Did you by any chance saw Dax around these parts?"

"No."

"Well that was a fast reply." I shrugged, if she wants to be silent and stealthy then why not. It won't really change my opinion on this day as much as it does to the other guy. I mean, waking up in a prison cell was something I visioned myself after a drink with my late master. Not sure about being assasinated, but beggars can't be choosers.

* * *

><p><strong>[To Be Continued]<strong>

* * *

><p>Due to a lot of demands – and one death threat – I decided to just type something random and be done with it. Hope this sates your curiousity for the moment. Today, I shed manly tears from the amount of reviews I got, usually I'm not that expressive with my feelings but I can't help it. I just wanted to say thank you to those who take time and send a positive – negative works too – reviews, unlike those who read and leave. I have to say that is extremely rude!<p>

Ezekiel: Yeah!

Rude, because reading without leaving behind a constructive criticism is like going to a bar, pick up a pretty lady – or in some cases pretty/handsome men – and throw them in your bed while you go out and continue with your life.

* * *

><p>Now that that's behind us, let's go to the <strong>Review response.<strong>

MusicOfMadness: Hope this is soon enough!

thakidisbac: I'm glad you liked it, the next back story will come soon... as soon as Ezekiel gets knocked out cold.

KuroHi91: You think so? Great, I thought that I majorly screwed up there!

Gui: Like many other anime characters who got smacked upside the head: Aizen would be a good example or Alucard.

Daisylovesu: Thank you!

xxOMGgalxx: Growl!

Jamin1227: Another one inspired by this story? If this continues I might actually start writing an actual book... in Nepal... where no one sees or buys the crappy stuff. Don't worry about the amount of reviews, people are just like that, they never fail to disappoint you. I'll be reading your story once I get a breather from all this hemmin and hawin'.

Cone: Great you like it! There will be more where that came from. Pft, a great writer, stop it you, that won't make me happy you dumbass *dances around weirdly while scaring the hell out of my roommate*. Didn't know that people read previous chapters, usually they just move on... WITHOUT LEAVING A COMMENT.

Mikila94: PM'd

SeaDevil: No review is small or big enough, it's just enough to fuel my ego to take over the world.

Kuroneko: I've planned to make the Straw Hats interrogate him a little and pry onto his things once I get these backstories done.


	58. The Black Rose

**Chapter 58: The Black Rose.  
><strong>

**Disclaimer: Always remember that you're unique – just like the other 7 billion on this planet.**

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><p>"You know the thing that bugs me today is that I seem to make all the right decision, but my situation keeps getting really dangerous." I commented to no one in particular while looking at the orange-haired navigator moving like a trained ninja. "First I was in a <em>massive<em> amount of pain where I woke up in a unfamiliar prison cell, then was about to be assasinated by three marines in a close quarter while being in pain, then I wandered around in pain, planned our exit in pain, waltz through vents only to appear in a marine changing room in pain, then-."

"Yeah, I get it!" Nami pinched my cheek with her patent glare. "The marines are in all time alert after they found out that you've been beating them. So shut up and follow me."

"Yes, ma'am." I saluted with my dumb grin. Instead of really shutting up, I took out my stiletto and started to balance it on my finger. The knife was sharp so I had to coat my finger with chakra to not get a cut. Now that it was upside down, the stiletto looked more like a crusifix with a pointy bottom.

"Stop." Nami held out her hand and looked around. I ignored her, my focus being on the balanced stiletto that gave me something to do. "Ezekiel-kun, wait, don't-!"

"Hey you!" A marine found me so I had to stop my act and gave the lone blue/white my attention. I noticed he was pulling a cart containing something weird. Better check that out.

"Me?"

"Yes you, you're under-!" I interrupted the marine by slamming the musket into his temple. Must've hurt since the guy was knocked out by the force alone. If not, then his head slamming on to the floor did the job.

"Try and come up with something original." I mumbled and shrugged the killing intent Nami was emanating. I deftly ignored her as my attention was now on the cart the unconscious marine was pulling. In the cart, there was a huge, tube like thing. I knocked it with my stiletto and heard the familiar sound of metal. "What is this?"

"Ezekiel-kun, we have to be silent. Isn't that what you ninjas do?"

"That and run around proclaiming that we'll be Hokages." I answered and grabbed the metal tube with both hands. It was easily a meter long, with some buttons and a iron grip-like handle. "I wonder what's this do. It looks like one of those super soakers from Toys'r'us. I guess we'll find out soon. Maybe I'll give it a test run the next time we see a stupid marine wandering around. It better be good, I mean, it's quite heavy."

I briefly saw Nami faceplam. "Why do all the cute ones..."

"What was that?" I tilted my head and strapped the metal tube to my back. Luckily it had a belt too, so it won't be a problem to run with it. Me and Nami continued to walk around some more, this time in silence because of the girl's glare getting more and more menacing. So I tried to lighten up the mood with one of my pathetic cracks. "Nami-chan, I'm having a mathematical problem. Think you can help me?"

"*Sigh* What is is?" The girl glanced over me with her tired eyes as if she didn't get any sleep. At least she knows how I feel with the insomnia and all.

"If I have 10 oranges in each of my palm, and you smell like red, how many kittens will grow on the moon during summer if an alien planted them there and you need to go to the bathroom traveling 15 miles per cardboard box?"

"I can't answer that!" She shouted with her hands thrown in the air like she doesn't care about them.

"The answer is purple, because it smells better than 9."

"Why did you ask me if you already knew the answer!" Nami rolled her eyes and took two quick steps forward to get away from me. "Why do I bother with you guys?"

"Because you love us?" She growled and pulled her hair in frustation. "Because you love me? I knew there was something in me that made me irresistable. Maybe I should pass by the patent office and sell myself. That wouldn't really be called prostitution if I get this much demand only daily bases."

"Don't flatter yourself."

"You know, most people already know that when you open up a dictionary and you look up the word ''sexy as hell'' then it has a picture of me. Most specifically a picture of my bottom because that is where I store up my sexiness."

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><p>Nami was getting more annoyed by my behavior which consisted of me ranting about the justice system now. Pirate or not, I am entitled of a reasonable and comfortable bed when I wake up from a prison. She did smack me upside the head and grumbled something about impossible crewmates.<p>

"They are marines, you are a pirate... think!" I stopped and nursed my head while watching Nami walk away in her own fit of temper tantrum. "Aaah!" Nami shouted around the corner. So much for our stealthy aproach as I saw her bump into a large marine wearing a coat.

"Nami!" My eyes fell on Usopp who was being held captive by a group of marines behind the weird-beard. I did quirk an eyebrow from his new outfit, well, a rather old seeing as it was a average marine uniform I kept seeing nonstop.

A nerveous look appeared on the navigators face as the tall man narrowed his eyes. The marines in front of her unsheated their cutlasses to slice Nami in pieces. "I see you know this pirate. That must mean you are one of the pirates as well. Arrest her!"

"Hai Lieutenant Drake!"

"Well I know now whom I have to complain about my earlier predicament." I blurred past Nami and deflected a sword strike with the flatside of my stiletto. The marine was surprised long enough for me to deliver a roundhouse kick to his head.

"Ezekiel?" Usopp stared at me with eyes, as if he just saw a ghost.

"Grrr." The Lieutenant growled. "I see you're awake."

"Yeah and no thanks to you." I kept beating around the marines until there were only me, Drake and few more marines left in the metal hallway. It also seemed that the marines saw me as the biggest threat and let go of Usopp, which worked great for me. "One of your suborbinates tried to kill me. Attacking defenseless is something I do not tolerate in the slightest."

"You're a criminal..." He snarled and unsheated a rather antique looking sword that piqued my intrest. "Criminals like you should be killed on the spot." The rest of the marines charged at me with no teamwork at all. Had they worked together then I might've been in a pinch, which I'm not seeing the marines knocked out cold. I did leave the other 3 alone, just to teach a lesson to not mess with me.

"Hahaa!" Usopp cheered in his boisterous voice behind me. "It seems that nothing can stop Captain Usopp's mighty crew! Go Ezekiel, beat 'em up!"

The higher ranking marine made a swipe with his cutlass that would've decapitated my head. I took a step back and propelled myself forward. My face was that of disappointment when I didn't catch him off guard as our weapons were on stalemate with him overpowering me. I made a downward swipe, leading him stumbling forward where I made a rising leg strike to his jaw. Unfortunately that wasn't enough to knock him out as the higher the marine ranking, the durable they are.

_"Why am I so weak?"_ I reprimanded myself by shaking my head. That only aggravated Drake as he stood up and glared at me.

"Your wanted posters says ''Dead or Alive'', but G-8 generally takes its prisoners alive..." He tried to monologue me. The lamps above us began to flicker again and I could hear the voice this time whispering at me to kill the man. "Nevertheless, if you continue to resist, I will not guarantee anything." I gripped my left eye again and gritted my teeths together in pain. The two pirates and marines were looking between me, the lamps and Lieutenant Drake in confusion mixed with fear by the Killing Intent I was leaking. "I am doing this for Absolute Jus-!"

"Shut **UP!**" The last part wasn't my voice at all and it echoed around the hallway. I didn't even want to say anything much less open my mouth. The first word was a mix of mine but the other part, the last word... it sounded like that scary voice from before where it then gradually increased to something else, something, evil.

I didn't know what got into me as I used my Body Flicker and kneed the Lieutenant's face in. There was a resounding cracking noise I identified as a broken skull. The marine was sent far away into the hallway, unmoving and bleeding, but thankfully not dead.

"H-He took out Lieutenant Drake!" The marine started to shake in fear.

"He's only one person!"

"Get him!"

I glared hatefully at the marine, like it was their problem from my painful headache. They freezed in fear while I kept bashing their heads against the metal wall after pummeling them to the ground. I felt angry, weak, lost and under all that I felt humiliated.

"Y-You can stop now, Ezekiel-kun..." Nami tried to aproach me with her hands held in a calming manner. It did help me somewhat and made me let go of the marine who begged for mercy. "A-Are you alright?" She asked me again, this time holding my arm. Usopp was behind a crate of box and looked at me in fear.

I scowled and stared my shaking hands with a calculating look. "I'm fine... he reminded of someone I used to loath..."

Nami and Usopp nodded, but were still unsure what to make of from my unnecessary brutalism. They both walked a few meters behind and discussed what happened, including what was wrong with me. I didn't know what got to me, perhaps I'll talk this out with Tri-kun once we get out of here. Yama-chan must be worried sick.

"Do you know where the Merry is being kept, Usopp?" Nami asked the sharpshooter who smiled proudly. Or so I felt with my back to them.

"Hai, The great Captain Usopp found out where they are keeping the ship." We were silent as we waited for him to get over his short burst of fantasy. "They're keeping her in the docks."

"And where is the dock?" I asked and groaned when he didn't answer. "Figures that we're lost." We walked around for a bit more, that at least calmed me down somewhat more. That is until we arrived in a dead-end. I sighed and reared my fist back where I concentrated lightning chakra to my whole right arm. My muscles condensed from the chakra out-put and caught a glimps of the limb being coated with cackling light blue energy. "Raiken!"

**Crash!**

The supposed dead-end crumbled into a pile of rubble, exposing the outside world and with it the calming, fresh air. I inhaled a good amount of air, filling my lungs with oxygen I desperately craved and saw that we were infact in Navarone's hedgehog of cannons. There was a giant bridge connected to the surrounding rock ''island'' far from my right, pretty neat. _"We'll have to get to that bridge first. If my memory serves me, there should be marines hiding under the bridge and more in front. I'll use those rails on top to get to the middle of it, if I'm lucky, they'll ignore me."_ I nodded at my plan and kneeled down in front of Nami with my back turned to her. "Hop on, the docks are sure to be on the other side of that bridge."

"Hai." Nami nodded, albeit a bit unsure by the way she wrapped her arms around my neck.

"I'm fine, I promise to control myself." I reassured her and smiled seeing her nod over my shoulder.

"What about me?" Usopp protested. "You can't leave me here." I shrugged and grabbed him by the back of his shirt. Seeing the gap between me and the bridge made me a bit tense. "Are you sure about this! This looks dangerous!"

I channeled chakra to my feet, enveloping them in that familiar mixed energy I've been accustomed to for over a year now. "Meh, this jump isn't too bad and hey, if I miss, it won't kill me."

"WHAT ABOUT US THEN!"

I ignored the duo and jumped from the hole I made into the mountain of cannons. While I kept pumping chakra to my feet, I had to turn around right and scale the rock horizontally where the Straw Bridge located. I'm crazy, yes, but I'm not that crazy as to make a single leap to the bridge. The distance for it was well over a hundred meters. Luffy and Robin could swing across there, not me.

It took me about 10 minutes to get to the huge bridge. I let go of Usopp who kissed the metal bridge and gently set the other occupant of my back down. Bet she was uncomfortable with the metal tube and musket she had to deal with on my back.

"Arigato, Ezekiel-kun." Nami smiled despite her shrieking into my ear not ten minutes ago.

"You're welcome." I nodded, still peeved from my anger issue I took out on the Lieutenant. The two pirates walked forward while I walked backwards and looked at the center mountain of Navarone. "Yeah, I mean it would've hurt, but the only way a fall like that could kill me would be if that I landed head first and my bodyweight snapped my neck. And that could never happen because I am a cat." I started making cat noises which sounded more like a mix between a hiss and purring.

Sounded more like a wounded cat being strangled to death.

"Ezekiel..." Usopp stuttered, his shaking knees made my head turn around and blink at the horde of marines blocking our path. I was surprised that we crossed half of the bridge already with no one behind us. "A little help here.."

"Give up pirates!" The marine in the lead exclaimed. "Resistance is futile!"

"The fun just doesn't end today does it?" I grumbled and set the metal tube down on the ground with the musket and cutlass I snatched from the Lieutenant right after we passed him. "Well, that's not a problem. I can cope." My Sharingans flared to life as I glared at the marines. "I'm going to beat the living _crap_ out of you. It's not even going to be about stress relief, it's a side benefict."

"What are you on?" A random marine shouted as they advanced towards us. They were surprised though, I did too with the stiletto balanced on my finger.

"This is survival. People say you have to play with the cards you've been dealt in life. I don't think so. I think if you've been dealt a stack deck; you can knock the table over, pull out a gun and start firing life."

"Men! Charge!" The marines shouted their war-cry. I merely grinned more and started to knock out marines like a sick puppy. It was really easy. I remember once seeing a episode of One Piece where these guys train like hell, but always end up being a pile of meat on top of each other. "Don't give in. We are the marines of G-8 Nava-!"

The marines, especially my eyes, widened in horror when I heard these following words.

"Gomu Gomu no..." The familiar voice and the distinct sound of stretching rubber made a pit on my stomach that was slowly filled with fear. "BAZOOKA!" Of all attacks he used both his stretched hand to smack me and the 30 left marines to the other side of the bridge with some falling down from it. "Oi, Ezekiel! You're awake and well. These guys must've taken care of you!"

The attack was ferociously vicious and knocked the wind out of me. And that was because I used a random marine as a meat shield. The force behind that was scary and no matter how much chakra I spam onto my muscles I can't seem to reach Luffy's or the others power capasity. I only have my ninja skills and let's face it, they can only get me so far.

"Dammit Luffy!" I heard Zoro curse behind the captain. "Aah, fuck. Now I have to carry him and his stuff again."

"Nami-swaaan~! Your knight in shining armor has come to you!" The love-cook twirled towards us in one of his moods. He looked at me for a second after Nami bobbed him on the head. "One hit? I thought he was sturdier than that." Sanji said, not really mocking me, but giving me a light surprised look behind the irritated one. Not sure why.

"I hate you all so much..." My words died there as I lost my conscious the second time today. I was still injured you know, these kind of things take time and knowing what happened today no wonder I passed out.

At least Sanji and Zoro were here with the dumbass captain.

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><p>[Mindscape]<p>

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><p>"Waaaaah!"<p>

**Thud!**

"Oof!" My breath was banished from my lungs when I hit the sandy beach that is my mind. "God, not this again... Luffy, you rubber bastard." I groaned and stood up while dusting myself. It has been a while since I've last been here. Wonder what new upgrades the two put in here. What surprised me was that the high fall from 10 kilometers above me hurt like hell. Why wasn't I hurt last time when I pummeled here face first? So, ignoring that, I walked forward, gazed at those huge obsidian pillars that seemed to be here for a reason I'm not intrested in hearing. _"They must be here for decoration." _I arrived at the same spot I last time met the wacky duo, but instead of a camp fire, there was a camp fire right in front of wooden cottage. _"I got a bad feeling about this."_ I gulped and knocked on the door to meet the resident of the said shack. Sure it was _my _mindscape, but I ain't just gonna barge into someones home – even if it's located in my mind. _"Maybe I should take rent too. I know Nami-chan would."_

The door opened and I had to look elsewhere seeing the sentient female katana in a night gown. That and she just glomped me on the ground. Compared to a lot of guys, my self-control is over the top and I didn't faint, loose blood or whatever the hell we men do when a attractive girl glomps us. I guessed it has more to do with the fact we have a sibling-like relationship.

"Oh, you came to visit us?" The other shorter sword inquired from the rooftop in his usual attire. He pushed himself up and started to levitate with his legs crossed. "Thought you forgot about us."

I stalled his words as I gazed on the hovering Poneglyph above us. The thing was slowly spinning and now that I focused on it, the confirmed Key of Tartarus was letting out a very ominous feeling wash over me. "Not unless Enel fried my brain to mush," I tried to get up, but had to strain myself as the older looking Vivi was holding onto me. I visibly sweat dropped that instead of seeing her dumb grin or tears she was sleeping on top of me.

"She had a rough time," The midget commented and helped me up while still holding onto the girl, she did look peaceful now. "Yamaoroshi was worried that you might die and tried to contact you for the past two days."

"I was out for two days?"

"More or less..."

I shrugged, the shrimp is getting more and more wittier everytime I see him. Not sure where he got that, but it annoys me. I walked inside the cottage and tried to set the sleeping human katana in her bed. The problem was that she had her arms wrapped around my neck and if I even think about letting her go, she'll strangle me – had to learn that the hard way.

So I just decided to sit on her bed with her on my lap. "I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to this." I let out a brief sigh and looked at Triton. "Remember what happened to me? After I was thrown off the Maxim?"

"Well... the bird, Fuza, picked you up from mid-air with the help of the former Priest. I heard the little reindeer saying that your heart rate dropped from the enormous electric discharge."

"My heart rate... dropped?" I asked in confusion. "I thought that amount of voltage would be enough to blow up my heart."

Triton waved my problems away with a light smile. "That should've happened, but it didn't. Instead..." The brown-haired genie look-a-like leaned closer, as if he was about to tell me something secretive. Naturally, as a human being, I was curious so I leaned too. "...it did something to your whole chakra system."

I would've facefaulted had I not been in this kind of predicament. "Good or bad?"

"Good."

"And?" Frankly he was getting more and more annoying. Now I know how my victims feel like.

"That's it. The amount of lightning in your system did... something. It is up to you to find out what." I knew then that he won't tell me and lets me figure that out by myself. The damned, vertically challenged genie bastard reminds me of my late master. He always let me to figure things out by myself. If a rock hit my head, master orders me to figure out what kind of life the rock had before it hit me in the head.

"What's with the cube above us?"

"The Key of Tartarus?" Triton tilted his head to the left, showing his confusion on the lost ancient weapon. "Not much is known about it. Only that it opens, closes, destroys or creates outer dimensional rifts and portals."

"But Enel said..."

"He was partly right, beneath all that, the Poneglyph is holding back something evil in its own dimension - which is Hell, purgatory or whatever. It can only be opened by the _key_ here in your head." The sentient tanto let out a short sigh. "The down side of it, which I just noticed is that the evil manifested itself onto something more beast-like and is slowly leaking off its powers so... well, how should I put it, _contaminating _you."

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes to absorb the information. That could be one of the reasons how I ended up in here, but it doesn't explain how, why and when. "I guess the voice I've been hearing was the _beasts _doing." I stated and sighed seeing Triton nod. "What about the Hell and Heaven part?"

Triton scoffed, something I didn't expect him to do. "I wouldn't trust a humans guess about the afterlife any more than I would trust a sheeps evaluation of a steak." He shrugged without missing a beat. "Your friends are about to leave now and retrieve the missing gold. One of them is about to kick you awake, just a heads-up."

"Right." I nodded and tried to pry the miss glingy of off me. She did squirm, so I had to get out of here before Sanji's – a lucky guess – kick hits me awake. "Tri-kun, come a little closer."

"Uhm, what is it boss?" How gullible could a guy be. I grabbed the midget by his arm and reversed out position to that of me being free. "You insolent brat! You tricked me!"

"Says a guy who's 4 foot nothing." I waved him off and jumped on the camp fire who ''evaporated'' my presence from this maddened mind. I did have more questions, but they can wait.

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><p>[Back in the Real World]<p>

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><p>I followed the warning from Triton and grabbed the black leg before it collided with my head. I really have to ask him how he does that. "Whoa, that was close to my head." Sanji showed a light surprise to that, but did retract his leg. I flipped myself up from the ground to a standing position and gave the assembled crew a grin. "Now that was a nap. I feel like a new man!"<p>

"About damn time." The familiar voice of my sidekick jumped on my shoulder. "Not that I was worried or anything. If you'd die now, I get a bigger role."

"Of course you would." I deadpanned and looked at the people gathered around the ship. What surprised me was that we were surrouded by a layer of wood. Usopp started to explain what the hell happened after Luffy knocked me out. He said that they had to carry me around – again that is – and retrieve the gold the marine confiscated from us.

"...the plan is to get the gold and Nami's Waver and leave. Robin said that they might keep out treasure in a vault-." Here Usopp was surprisingly interrupted by Daxter.

"I know where the gold is." A short moment of 'what' later, the ottsel said that while he was looking for me in this maze of marine infested facility. He said that it was in the Commanders office where he probably uses the quick availability of his marine suborbinates to surround whoever enters the place.

"Alright, new plan then. Me and Dax go and get the gold while you guy do whatever the hell you want." I nodded with my arms crossed over my chest.

"Why can't we just go with two teams?" Zoro inquired from his spot on the rail. He didn't seem happy, either because he was here or that he had to carry me around. "You're still recovering from your injuries and Luffy here said that he didn't use that much power on his attack."

"That's because under all this energy mixing body contains a frail human being." I rolled my eyes in mock sarcasm. "Beside, I need to set a complaint to the Navarone Commander."

"Why?" A healthy question asked by Robin who was smiling. And let me tell you, I don't like that smile of hers.

"One: I woke up in a stone slab bed covered in urine. Two: three of these jarheads tried to murder me while sleeping on said stone slab bed covered in urine. Three: they denied me food. Four: carry highly volatile explosives and not share with me." I fixed her with a serious glare not suited for these kind of situation. "And last but not least, do you honestly believe a guy with my statue would survive in prison? They'll break me in five minutes."

"How many times do I have to tell you? You're a pirate! Get that in your head!"

I ignored Nami's ranting, Luffy's laughter and Chopper trying to change my mind to not excert myself anymore than I already have. "Your also wearing orange! That's not really ninja-like at all!" Luffy commented in that loud voice of his. I noticed it was dark outside so I have to put effort on my stealth.

"Hey, don't be dissin' my swag!"

"Wait," Usopp, now a bit fearful might I add. "they tried to kill you? In your sleep!"

"Yeah, and I didn't get my rights read to me." I shrugged and got to work. Luffy was okay with all of this, that is after I threatened him to let me go and retrieve our gold as a payback for what he did to me. Being a shinobi – which I still don't know if I am – stealth is my specialty so by thanks to that I found myself in the Commander Jonathan's office in a matter of minutes.

"Oh, you're awake." Commander Jonathan, a orange haired man with thick black eyebrows and those manly moustaches. He was in that fancy marine overcoat with its medals and feather tricorne.

"Is that supposed to surprise you?" I deadpanned at the laid-back Commander. "I'm here to complain about my status and get back our gold." I tapped the single satchel charge strapped to my sash I wrapped around me. Jonathan quirked one of his manly thick eyebrow as I dribbled something on a piece of paper using his ink on the table. I made a cut to my thumb with the use of my stiletto and swiped a trail of blood to the back of the paper.

**Slam!**

I forcefully slammed the sealing tag to the door where it glowed a light bluish color and faded to reveal a simple warden seal to keep those pesky marines off my lawn. Or in this case from the vice admiral's office.

"So..." I drawled out and looked around the room where I spotted our gold. Not that it was my top priority now. I sat on the chair in front of Jonathans desk and leaned back. "What was with the deal of me waking up in a urine covered sheet?"

"Vane Ezekiel." Jonathan began and I didn't like how he used my lastname before the surname. My father gets called by his lastname first. "I told my suborbinates to look after your well-being. Still, while I do take full responsibility for their actions, that doesn't dismiss the fact that you – with your crew of pirates – find yourself in our base."

"Oh yeah that." I dumbly scrathed the back of my head for a moment. "Not that it was my intention, I was knocked out by a serious stream of condenced lightning. I do have to say though: that was a _shocking_ experience." I laughed and wiped the tear from my, though I was disappointed that the vice admiral didn't share my lame ass joke.

"Why are you here?" The Commander asked with his own narrowed eyes telling me that this guy was serious and not to be messed with. "Surely you didn't come all the way here to complain about your uncomfortable awakening?"

Yes.

"No," I took out the satchel charge and threw it at him with its remote and all. "Where did you guys get these?"

"Satchel charges?" Jonathan looked at it for a moment, probably thinking about telling me or detonate it himself. "The World Goverment found another mad scientist who creates modern weapons for the extraction of pirates."

"Wow, I didn't expect that..." I furrowed my brows together in deep thought. _"The grenades I found in Skypiea were old, really old so the guy must've made those for a exceptionaly long time. I'm guessing twenty years."_ If that's the case then I better be wary. "Why did you tell me this?"

"Honestly?"

"Honestly."

"I don't like the group making those weapons. The more time they take, the more dangerous they'll get until the world starts to go into a war of demand. As a vice admiral, I could say something, but as long as it keeps pirates and the rebels in line no one will dare say anything about it."

I palmed my forehead with a frustating sigh. _"Great, I get to witness World War I in One Piece."_

"Ezekiel, you and the Straw Hat captain are exactly the kind of people that Admiral Akainu expect you to be." I gulped at the mention of the Red Dog. The man is a monster incarnated. "You know the admiral?"

"Who doesn't," I grumbled and stood up from my spot. "Say... your being awfully cool with me here and I don't sense any hostility between us."

"Why should I?" Jonathan leaned back on his and took his fishing rod on the table. The manly moustached commander made few moves with the fishing device and pulled the ID-card from my pouch by the hook. I grinned at the older male. He reminded me of my uncle. "You pirates are as good as capture. Few more push here and there and it's game over."

"Is that so?" I chuckled behind my back while ignoring the marines trying to barge throught the sealed door. If they keep that up, then the seal might actually give in. "Did you by the way meet my captain?"

"The straw hat kid, yes I did." Jonathan nodded, "He said that if he wants to get out then he'll get out."

"Shihahahahahaha!" I laughed and couldn't really help but do so. "Well if that's the case then I can guarantee that you'll be surprised."

"How's that?" Jonathan was curious, not that I blame him.

"Luffy can be... unpredictable. I think a man who enjoys playing chess and is a skilled strategist likes when something doesn't go how they planned." I pulled my hood on and pointed at the unfinished game of chess. "I'll be off your throat now and take the backseat to watch the show." I knew that the man could fight being a vice admiral and all. The only reason he didn't was because it could endanger his suborbinates, something any leader tries to avoid if possible.

"Yo, Ez!" My orange sidekick shouted form the window with a distinct obsidian Dial strapped on a belt on his waist. While I was conversing with the vice admiral, the ottsel prepared the gold and was actually carrying the giant sack of treasure on his back. "Ready to leave?" He grinned as I jumped on top of the retrieved sack of gold.

I really do love the Panzer Dial.

"This is where we part, Stronghold Ossan. Take care. Oh, and tell Lieutenant Drake I'm sorry." I grinned and waved one last time when the ottsel jumped from the hedgehodge mountain. There was again the sound of rubber nearing us and before I knew what the hell happened, I was back on the ship with Luffy grinning. I did notice that we were still surrounded by planks who ''hid'' the Going Merry. "It seems my job here is done."

"What took you so long?" Sanji asked from his spot on the ratlines. I picked up the unconscious Daxter under the pile of gold. The force must've been a bit too much.

"I had a heart to heart moment with the nice Stronghold Ossan."

"Shishishishi! I knew he was a good guy!" Luffy said sitting on his favorite spot. I saw we were about to crash into a Marine ship in front of us and laughed with the dumb captain as we crashed into it. "MERRY, BLAST OFF!"

I stretched my shoulder and sat down leaning against the mast. Daxter cuddled in my arms, it was cute when he did that. The precursor deserves his rest.

So I just sat back and watched the crew panic once we hit a the ''fangs of G-8''. It was funny so I made myself useful and helped Usopp mend the damage done in the hold. The guys went outside to see what happened while I continued my work. Someone has to do something. I wasn't worried, we'll get out of here one way or another. Hell I was so laid back at the time that I started to put on my headphones and listen to some music.

Once I was done with the whole repair, I went back to the deck to see the huge octopus coiled around the Merry. "AAH! Were being attacked by the Kraken! Who released it! We must kill it now before the thing pulls us to Davy Jones locker!" I began to run around the ship in panic. Anything with more 5 or more limbs is scary as hell.

"Ezekiel-kun, we need your Grand Fireball!" Nami commanded. I looked at the navigator with the Breath Dial and Luffy holding the Flame Dial. It seems their trying to inflate the octopus. I almost forgot about this part. I nodded and waved through a set of hand seals.

"Take a deep breath, aim, knead the chakra in your stomach and... Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu." I made sure not to release the ball of fire as that would make us a instant fried octopus.

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><p>It seemed also that it was Usopp who gave us the last push with the Impact Dial. I thought the guy was just nuts. Why didn't Luffy do it? That rubber body of his could easily take the backlash, but then again, I guess they wanted Usopp to... train, I hope.<p>

"Out of the frying pan into the wide ocean!" Luffy cheered with Usopp being tended to by a frantic Chopper. I did heard few stress fractures and mild bruising, but other than that the sharpshooter's fine.

We continued drifting for quite sometime. Of course I also had to be tended to as my injuries were still there. That is not to say that Sanji was pissed at me. Not because of my self sacrifice earlier on the Maxim, no, this was much more... obvious.

"It's all your fault you dumb ninja!" The cook shouted in front of me. I was sitting on the rail facing him with a confused glance.

"What are you smoking? I didn't do anything." I thought we were past this hatred. If it's about Nami, then we might have a problem. I don't really care much about relationships, but if the other is intrested then I could at least give them a chance. That is if they impress me, which is hard nowadays. "If it's about me throwing you from few dozens kilometers above the Cloud Island then I'm sorry."

"No!"

"The rubber gloves?" I groaned. "I said I'll get you a ne-."

Sanji rudely interrupted me by rummaging through the inside of his black suit. He made a quick swipe to the ground and threw a handful of... pictures of me half naked doing some weird poses and flexing my muscles. I paniced again and looked around for somekind of explanation. The crew picked one of the picture each to see what the commotion was all about.

"Uhm, guys, did Sanji do anything to me while I was unconscious?" I asked with fear edging in the pit of my stomach.

"W-What?" Sanji stuttered with wide eyes saying he knew what I was getting into.

My voice grew unnaturaly serious as I glared at him. "Did you do anything to me while I was unconscious?"

"What? No! God no!" He held his hands in a placating manner, sweat dripping down his face. "I wouldn't touch you with a stick!"

"Oh thank Go-! Wait what do you mean by that!" My glare returned with intensity. "Am I not good enough for you!"

"The hell..."

"Why, Sanji-kun? I thought we had something in common." I dropped to my knees with the background turning black and white petals falling above me. Seeing that the pirates were taken aback by my lame ass acting, I stood up and dusted myself. "What's with the pictures of me, half naked, doing in your pocket? Are you coming onto me?"

Sanji regained his composure, or whatever was left of it as he gave me a glare. "It is because of these picture that none of the angels danced with me. The old hag shared those pictures and the people up there formed a fan club for you! A fan club of hot girls!"

"Cool, I have a fan club in Skypiea!" I grinned and ignored Sanji's fuming. "Who else joined the awesome club?"

"I did!" Luffy cheered, "I even got a pin." The captain showed me the small label pin of a black rose on his vest. I visibly sweat dropped since I expected something more cooler than a flower. A knight would be awesome, or a dragon, that would just kick _ass_.

"Me too! Me too!" This one came from Chopper who held one on his pink hat. My sweat dropped increased in size when I saw Usopp holding the same.

"Who else?" Now I was growing apprehensive. This wasn't how I imagined my rise to the fame would be.

"Ezekiel-san." Robin's voice came from the stairs. She was holding the black rose in her hand, not putting on for her own reason which I respected her for. This was way too much to take. I knew karma would one day kick me in the balls, but not this soon. "I thought I might take one as well."

"Nami has one too!" Luffy suddenly blurted out. I turned my head to the navigator and raised an eyebrow seeing her gone. "Ara? I could swear she was here a second ago."

"The witch went inside to change her clothes." Zoro grumbled from his usual resting place.

"Don't tell me you got one too, Zoro."

"Not my thing." I sighed in relief that the grumpy swordsman wasn't on my fan club. That would just ask for trouble.

"Good, and Sanji..." I turned to the cook who was still pissed of the I ''stole'' his girls. "I'm not mad at you for taking all the pictures of my half naked body for yourself."

"What?"

"It's just... I'm flattered of course, but you were making such a good progress. I never thought I would be the object of your affection."

"I'm not gay!"

"Its okay Sanji. There's nothing to be ashamed off." I walked up to him and gave him a reassuring hug not as a crewmate, but as a friend. "No need to deny. It's alright, man. I won't judge you for who you choose to be. Remember that I'll always be here for y-."

**Whamm!** **Pow!**

Needless to say, I got under his skin in record time now that the crew were questioning his sexuality while I was lying on the deck covered in bruises. "Shishishishishi!" I heard Luffy laugh to the skies followed by a row of others joining. I did apologize to the cook saying that I was just joking with him and that this was one of my ways to express myself. Though, it will take some time for him to get over that I have my very own fan club.

Maybe I'll visit the place again, who knows.

I picked up the modelling photos and counted seven of them, but only held six in my hand. _"And it was my favorite picture too. The one who showed a good view of my firm bottom. Where the hell is it?"_

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><p><strong>[To Be Continued]<strong>

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><p>That arc is now over and the next one should be on its way to make your dreams come true. Thanks for the reviews, a record-breaking 16, I raise my fictive hat to you all who spared a little time to fuel my ego. If this keeps going I might actually rub it on people's face with it. Don't mind the purple orb Ezekiel consumed few dozen chapters ago. It'll make an appearance somewhere along the road. The voice... well, I won't spoil that, but I can tell you that it has nothing to do with what you guys are thinking. I want to surprise you with something I came up by watching Fraggel Rocks.<p>

Author's question to the readers: Should I add the Davy Back Arc? It sounds fun, but sounds like it'll be a abuse to my keyboard. I could put a poll here, that is if I wasn't this lazy to bother with it so a simple yes or no will suffice.

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><p><strong>Review Response:<strong>

kenegi: Yeah, I saw that and fixed it. Thanks for letting me know!

MusicOfMadness: Glad I could be a service!

Yonet: It was the filler episode, thought it would be fun for him to wake up surrounded by marines. The ottsel is more like a mascot, just like he's in the game and might come up with his own scene... maybe. People seem to like these... fluffs, so I'll try and add more of those.

thakidisbac: I thought it would be funny seeing Ezekiel freak-out. He does have a bad history with insects; scorpions being the worst.

DarkDHeritage: Great! I made someone's day which in turn made my day even better! Hope you'll get the picture done, I'm anxiously waiting how it turned out!

SeaDevil: Dammit, shouldn't have said that. Now I can't achieve my life goal with you blocking my way to greatness and above! *Cough* Anyways, onto business, I have something else planned for the purple ball so don't worry. But I can say that it won't affect Ezekiel as much as it does to the next one - spoiler. I'll keep up the good work as you put it and try to update more now that I have free time.

Cone: Thanks, I'm more leaning to the humor part of this story, but I do intend to add more off those mushy scenes for you guys... girls... both? No need to apologize for the previous chapters, they are just that: previous chapters. Cheers for you too, and no, I don't dance like Chopper does - even if it would get me more popular on the dance floor.

Kuroneko: Nah, he's not losing anything beside his sanity with being Luffy, the crap that's happened to him so far and his male ego shattering on his earlier loss. Ezekiel is a sore loser. I think it's pretty understandable that his hunger is on Luffy's level with not eating for two days. He is - so far - only human.

Piacine: Thanks for the review! I'm relieved to hear that my OC is well liked, I'll try and update more for the sake of my safety. Danger lurks everywhere, can't trust people here like I used to. *Looks around suspiciously*

Zaralann: One word: THANKS! I'll post more once I get this skimmish about the next arc behind me.

xxOMGgalxx: Really? You think so? Well, I'll try and add more skips to get to the next chapter.

tray125: Your just saying that, I don't feel like this is the best story here. I just write what I feel like, but with those kinds of praises I can't get myself to stop, thank you!

Gui: The two characters I mentioned are also a bit screwed on their heads, don't mind them, I used them as a figure of speech so no need to remember that. Your guess are wrong, both of them. I won't spoil, but I can tell you that it's something unexpected.

Daisylovesu: Stop it, your making me blush. There are better authors here and I feel I'm not on their level. I just write to kill time, but as long as people really do like then who am I to let you guys down.

KuroHi91: He kinda mistook the octopus to the Kraken he'll meet sometimes later. You were right, I had no motivation to write between chapters so I'll just make Ezekiel do stuff, get lost, anything to fastforward the story. Glad I'm not the only one thinking like that. Oh, and I'm still waiting for your opinion on the picture!

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><p>Lets continue with the positive <strong>review<strong> streak and press the new review link!


	59. The Encounter

**Chapter 59: The Encounter.**

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><p><strong>Now, before you guys throw any rotten tomatoes and raise your torches and pitchforks. I want you to read this chapter and hear me out. Also, if you have time, look at the picture of Ezekiel I made and tell me what you think of him.<strong>

**Quotation of the Week: **Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.

**Disclaimer: I still don't own anything except my Oc's.**

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><p>[Flashback, 5 years ago]<p>

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><p>The air was clear, the sun was shining brightly in the sky, I could tell that this day is going to be a wonderful day.<p>

Not.

"Get up!" Sensei shouted angrily inside the now empty dojo. You might think that this old, kind-hearted old man is a good a good old man but he isn't; far from it. See, ever since I met him five years ago, he had been nothing but kind to me, until the day I hit puberty, that's when the shit hit the fan for me. "I want the perfect discipline! Do not let me down!"

"Yes, sir!" I shouted and quickly pushed myself back up only to be kicked in the ribs for not being fast enough on my recovery. I let out a low grunt from being... educated, as he put it, though he did have another name for that and I believe it was called _disciplining._

_Block left hook, grab it, push him back and strike,_ I played the next scenario in my head, trying but failing to keep up with him. The old man who can't be less than sixty years old is manhandling me upside down. _I'm beginning to think that this whole apprentice thing was a bad idea._

Sensei ducked down, grabbed my left leg and kicked the other one high up. He didn't finish it there when the old man took a hold of my throat mid-flight and slammed my body onto the tatami mat back first. I felt the air leave my lungs: I'll definitely feel that tomorrow.

_Yes,_ I thought amidst the ringing inside my head. _Very bad idea indeed._

Again I rose to my feet, this time blocking the kick aimed to the same spot the old man kicked earlier. Holding onto the limb, I traced my other free hand on his tight and pushed him back. I took a deep breath, calming myself down from the intense training we've been going at for about two hours, with no break.

"Enough," I jerked my head and stared at Sensei standing with his arms crossed over his bare chest. It was then that I realized how ripped the old man was; made me wonder how he looked in his prime. I bet nobody fucked with him. "That's it for today. We'll take it from here in two days." He turned around and walked away. I knew better and quickly followed him, being mindful of my twisted ankle I injured an hour ago.

_Damn,_ I sighed, still staring at Sensei's back. _Frail old man my ass! Fuck! I mean, look at him, he started this program two years ago and hasn't stopped it 'till now. I could call the childservice, ask help and live a blissful naïve life. But then again... I doubt I'll get much help here in Japan._

Yes, I was in Japan, Osaka to be precise. After Father got married with the hispanic woman, they decided to move out of Texas and transfer Karen, my sisters and I to different schools of our choosing. The girls weren't happy with that but I on the other hand was exstatic, mainly because Sensei – coincidentally – was about to move back to his home country and asked – more like demanded to my ears – that I join him.

Currently both of my younger siblings were in UK with my uncle Joseph and grandma, Karen departed to France, the newly weds were in Hawaii and Susan-

"Izzy!"

Was here with me, fuck.

The redhead gave a rather fierce hug, ignoring my fatigue and injuries that might or might not heal in a week. I pried the girl off and saw she was in her school uniform, meaning she just got of school. She's grown, a lot, definitely not the same flat-chested tomboy I met and dare I say had a crush on. I still do though, maybe because she is the only female contact... and the hormones slowly taking over.

"How many times do I have to tell you!" I yelled, now noticing I followed Sensei outside, now in his blue kimono over his shoulder and meditating near a pond in his backyard. I came to like the garden, it had a lush field, sakura trees and a field of sand where you can draw things; Zen-garden I believe it was called, "Do not call me Izzy!"

**Smack!**

"Don't raise your voice to me," she bobbed me upside the head. The girl, now a woman, maintained a calm façade, still blatantly ignoring my sore body and head. Susan shrugged her backpack and her school jacket off, leaving her with a pink blouse I knew she detested. The girl with the shoulder lenght crimson red hair pulled out a certificate and held it in front of my nose, "See what I got for you!"

I tried to read the paper with my current knowledge off japanese and failed miserably. "What is that? I only get the name of the school and my name."

**Smack!**

"Idiot," Susan admonished, "remind me to increase our lecture time together."

"Remind me to kick your ass..." I whispered under my breath.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing, ma'am."

"That's what I thought." She gave me one last glare and rolled up the certificate, "This is your legal entrance to the local school. And the best thing is that it's right next to mine!"

"Wait..." I stopped nursing my head when something came to mind. My eyes widened in horror when that something hit me harder than Susan's previous to hits to my cranium. "THAT'S TWELVE MILES FROM HERE!"

"Correct," she smiled, as if my sudden outburst didn't say anything about the distance, "Now we get to talk more japanese on our way to school and back. Maybe go to shopping, or video-chat with Karen-chan... or, or I know! We'll go to the amusement park!"

I slapped my forehead and slowly pulled the hand down on my face. _Women... what a pain_, I thought, still thinking about the uncoming horror that's waiting for me. She and Karen, my current step-sister, became fast friends through my first meeting with the latter. Their favorite subject was yours truly and their favorite person to tease was the same guy.

I left the girl to her thoughts and walked over to the still meditating old man. He was sort of a father-figure to me since the previous one wasn't exactly a father material, but he tries to fix that which is why I can't have any grudge against him.

"New school, eh?" Sensei said with his eyes closed, "Isn't it crazy how time flies?"

"I guess." I replied blankly, keeping my eyes on the clear pond and counting how many fishes swam there.

I counted six of them.

"What is it?" he knew I had something in my mind, which is probably why he beat me in the first place, "You clearly have something disturbing your mind."

"It's the school, Sensei." I finally said after a moment of silence, "I'm scared that the people there treat me like they did back home. What was the word they used to call outsiders: _ga-yo-ji_?" Sensei let out a low chuckle by my miss pronouncement.

"_Gaijin,_ my young discipline. I doubt people here judge you by appearance alone, this is Japan we are talking about. They don't judge a book by its cover or person from outside."

"Well that's a relief." I rolled my eyes in mock sarcarsm.

"They judge you based on your action."

"Well that seems kinda petty to me." Sensei didn't reply my answer and promptly stood up and threw me into the pond, scaring the fishies away by my sudden distruption. "What the hell was that for!?"

"You insulted the people of Japan," he replied, "And by that you insulted me. That is not how I trained you, young discipline."

"That doesn't make sense!" I shouted, standing up from the pond with my now wet sweatpants and t-shirt all the while ignoring Susan howling in laughter like a hyeena.

"It doesn't if you look outside the box," Sensei said as if that sentence had been that simple all along. "Maybe you should go to therapy. I can't have a mentally unstable student roaming around the school hall. What would the parents say about that? What would your parents say? What would the goverment say. I wonder..."

"Screw you, old man!" I yelled, he was slowly pissing me off.

Sensei glared at me, "You will or do I have to force you?"

"You can't force me, old man! If anyone, _you_ should go to therapy, along with that witch over there!"

"I've been on therapy when I had an age-crisis," master said, his thin lips spreading into a self-satisfied smirk I wish I could punch. But when he mentioned _age-crisis_, my anger and frustation were replaced with confusion and sudden epiphany.

"Oh, how old were you?"

"Nothing." Sensei's answer came quickly, as if he'd already come up with it decades before, "That was the problem. I didn't have birthday for months. I felt distressed everyone else had birthdays but not me. Not me."

"That's not how it goes!" I shouted, my patience was being put to test here, "You're a senile!"

"It's a gift to be old."

I slumped down on the grass and admitted defeat. There was just no way getting to him; it's like talking to a brick wall. Thankfully Susan stepped in before I actually planned on murdering the old man tonight.

"Izzy, I need your medical history so far," she said, now holding the document on the wooden table and a ink pen gripped on her hand: she always had a strong grip, "Tell me what you remember so I can write it down here."

"Why? Can't they just ask my previous school to send it to them?"

Susan gave me a deadpan look, "Yes, but I need one of them written here."

"Ugh, fine. I think I have a rheuma, dust allergy, unicorn phobia, lactase fear, ebola, a serious depression and my other eye doesn't hear well. How is that for a medical record? I'm like a CDC nightmare; it makes me want to hug someone, " I replied with a smug grin at having succesfully pissed her off. While Sensei watched the both of us running around with me screaming like a little girl, I couldn't help but smile a broad smile.

Later after Susan pummeled me into submission, we gathered around the kitchen table and ate our late night dinner with me holding an icepack on the side of my torso from both being beated by Sensei and Susan. I looked at the older resident of the house and couldn't help but marvel at his calm countenance I came to envy over the years. His wrinkles were deep-set under gray hair, framing hazel eyes that shone the vigor of a twenty-year-old student and the intelligence of a hundred-year-old monk.

Another smile appeared on my lips: I want to be just like him – no doubt about it.

"Your school starts in two months from now," Susan informed me after the old man left us to wash the dishes. He said something about taking a walk, must be something old people do. "We need to get you school uniforms-"

"Uniforms?" I asked wide-eyed, "Anything but those."

"It's the school regulation. You either wear it or do I have to use force to make you wear one?"

_What is with those two forcing me?_ I gulped and looked elsewhere. She knew that was a sign that she succesfully won this small agrument of ours. _No wonder she never had a boyfried, she's practically saturated with malicious intent. Maybe that's why her father let her study in Japan, to get away from her._ I shook my head from that thought and focused on drying the dishes.

So after we finished the cleaning, we both walked to a different room and saw the same folded futon mattresses. The most awkward part of this is that we had to share the same room because of the _evil_ spirits roaming around.

"Tell me again why do we have to sleep in the same room?" I asked her the hundredth time. Susan gave me an annoyed eyeroll, not the usual sarcastic one.

"I already told you," she fidgeted. "There are monsters around here."

"Aren't you a bit old for that?" I had to dodge a fist aimed to the back of my head, "Fine, fine. Forget I even asked, Jesus." Susan rolled her eyes and began to unfold the mattress. I began to take in the house a bit more, it was made out of wood, I knew that much. Sliding doors with thin sheets, few furnitures and TV that barely works. "I'll go out for a walk."

Susan, who changed into her pyjamas while I was looking elsewhere hugged her knees, "Promise you'll be back."

I was a bit taken back, she was scared of something. _Or is it something else,_ I though with slightly narrowed eyes. Nevertheless, I nodded and turned around.

"I... promise," I didn't want to hear a thank you or any kind of gratitude from her, it's actually me who should be thankful. If it weren't for her I would never have met Sensei.

Walking outside, I took a deep breath and just sat down on the grass. We were literally in the middle of goddamn nowhere, far from the cities. The worst thing would be that the closest store was nine miles away, that's eighteen miles back and forth.

_What a pain._

"Shrimp," I flinched and quickly stood up the second the old man's voice registered in my brain. Call it a survival instinct or something. I'm not one to admit, but the very voice of his scares me to death, "What are you doing out there in the middle of the night?"

"I... uhm, wanted to get fresh air. That's all, nothing more."

"That so?" Sensei chuckled in amusement. The old man turned around, indicating he wanted me to follow him, "There is something _bugging_ you, right?" he smiled cryptically, as if he were testing me.

I laughed nervously and replied, "It's just that... I don't understand."

"Understand what?" I was sure he knew what I was about to ask him, "Why I'm training you? Why did I take you as my apprentice? Is that it?"

"Yes, I never asked you that."

"I see," he chuckled, again, "the reason I took you in is because of the potential. And I see that in spades."

I gave the old man a blank look, "That's not all."

"True," Sensei said, "the truth is that I need to pass down my knowledge to someone before my time is up. Someone I know will use the knowledge for good will," he ruffled my short, black hair with mirth. "Someone I trust."

I smiled, it was the first praise I got from him in a long time. "Is that why you beat me around like a ragdoll?"

"That and more. See, you don't rise to the occasion," he lectured. "you default to your level of training. When the stress hits, you will only be half as good as your best day of recent training. Excitement won't kill you, but surprise will."

My smile quickly went to the same deadpan look I previously masked myself with, "I don't get it."

"I didn't expect you to."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?"

"Calm down," Sensei admonished, "Your ruining the moment."

"What moment?" I sighed in defeat, there was just no way getting through him, "Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did."

"Don't play dumb on me," this time I admonished him, "Fine, can I ask you two questions?"

"You just did."

_Oh for the love of-_, I shouted in my head, slowly getting annoyed to no end by his constant smartass comments. "Can I ask you _four_ questions then!?"

"You just did."

"When?"

"Right now."

"I swear, Sensei. One day, I will have my revenge. Just you fucking wait for it," my hands were clenched to a fist as I searched for something to punch.

"Take a deep breath," Sensei commanded in a different more authorative voice. I nodded, my survival instincts kicking back by the cold voice alone, "Now ask me the first thing that comes to your mind."

Again, I nodded and asked what came to mind after few minutes of silent walking: "How can someone learn true endurance?"

"I think about that a lot," he replied. "I see some people in certain situation put up with all kind of pain, humiliation and struggle, and then in other situations, they crap out after just a little work. True endurance, I believe, comes from the inside. It comes from motivation and belief in what you are doing."

"Right..." I smiled a thin smile and asked the old man more. In the same patient, grandfatherly voice, sensei answered each of my question for another hour before we went back inside the household.

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><p>[Flashback End]<p>

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><p>I slowly pried my eyes open and took in my surroundings. I was still on the ship, sprawled in a heap of limbs inside the cramped crowsnest. The last thing I remember was Nami, of all people, handing me a drink after my spar with Zoro... and that the drink tasted funny... and then I passed out.<p>

I quickly stood up, ignoring my sore muscles I checked any missing organs she probably sold to get few panties for herself. Thankfully that wasn't the case as I still had my vitals inside my body where they should be. _I swear, if she sold any of my belongings I'm going to..._

_"Hey,"_ a soft feminine voice interrupted my thoughts before they escalelated into something I can't explain. _"You're finally awake."_

"Yama-chan?" I resealed my katana and tanto, glad that these two weren't mugged by the orange-haired kleptomaniac. "How long was I out?"

_"Approximately two days, eight hours, forty-three minutes and sixteen seconds,"_ the other voice of my schizophrenia answered in his male voice. _"Had a nice dream?"_

"Meh, could be better," I got up and popped a few joints. After my quick session of stretched, I threw myself out of the crowsnest and into the deck, intent on scaring the living daylights out of the resident pirates. There was only one slight problem with my plan; there was no-one to scare. "Well this is new."

_"Indeed it is, sir."_

"Oi! Guys!" I shouted, trying to find anyone on board. "If you guys are dead then at least say something!"

After few more shouts and waste of precious time, I found out we embarked on a island. I shrugged my shoulders and dusted the orange hoodie off from any grime and dust I got on myself. _Note to self: clean the crow's nest._

I pushed chakra out of my feet in a quick burst, rocketing forward towards the island and landed on my arms, from there I pushed myself up into a standstill with my arms held high.

_"I give ten out of ten for that performance!"_ the female voice gushed out.

"Thank you," I grinned at the katana. I held a finger against the purple wristband on my arms and channeled chakra to it. A plume of white smoke later there was a small circular disc in my hand. I pushed the center of it and the disc expanded into a board. _Not the same as Marty used in Back to the Future, but I'm not being picky._

I got on board and started to hover forward to where I _assumed_ were the other people I've sailed with so far. The strangest thing so far was that the landscape was slowly turning grey. I rubbed my eyes and blinked few times to get the image off but it was only getting more darker. Out of safety, I sealed the hoverboard away, blaming the chakra drainage on my blurred sight.

_"Are you alright?"_ the same voice that praised me asked.

"I'm fine," I wasn't, I nearly tripped over.

_"You don't look fine," _this time the male voice said, sounding equally worried as the female on.

I tightly shut my eyes and opened them with wide-eyes, the reason: I was surrounded by what appeared to be dark grey mist. "Yama-chan? Triton-kun?" I looked around the hazy cloud, it was a miracle I even saw my hands but not my legs meaning that this mist must be really dense. Hell, I didn't even see the blaring sun above me and it was what, high-noon? "Is anyone here?"

I decided to take small, cautious steps forward. _What is this?_ _Am I being attacked? If so then the question is who and is this a Devil Fruit-ability or Genjutsu?_ I went with the latter and stopped the flow of chakra in my body, once that was done I made the Ram seal and applied an even stronger amount to disrupt the flow of the caster's chakra. I opened my eyes again witnessed the grey mist growing even darker.

"Fuck this," I growled angrily and actived my pseudo-bloodline limit. The effect was the same, I was loosing chakra and the mist was still there. But that wasn't what made me even more paranoid, no, it was the type of chakra I was surrounded in. _Man, whoever castered this chakra must be fucking evil._

I couldn't help but feel at awe and scared at the same time.

"**Greetings,**" a dark, gravely voice _greeted_ me from behind. I ran forward and looked at where that voice came from. A pair of yellow eyes emerged from the mist, staring at me with so much hate I could feel my bladder control almost giving up. Oddly enough, that hate wasn't directed at me and last time I saw it, there wasn't anyone around here in this mist.

"W-who are you?" I decided to cut to the chase. "Where am I?"

"**Does it matter where you are? Would it even matter where you are? What matters is that you are here, and that I brought you here, **_**human,**_" the voice somehow answered one of my questions.

"It's you..." I narrowed my eyes at those of its own yellow sclera eyes with golden iris and black slitten pupils on both of its eyes, "You're the voice from earlier."

"**Smart,**" the owned of those yellow eyes replied, "**For a mere human I mean. Or should I say, Ezekiel Vane, son of Gideon Vane.**"

"How do you know my father's name!" I shouted and charged up my assasination technique to end this things like if it comes to that, "Whoa are you!? What is this!?"

"**I know so much about you.**" it replied, "**The real question here is... do **_**you **_**know who **_**you**_** are?**"

"I'm not going to ask you again!" the Ninjutsu on my arm was ready and I could have gawked at it for actually finishing charging up the technique in _less_ than the usual twelve seconds. Nevertheless, I was armed and ready to take the iniative, "Who are you!"

"**I am...**" it chuckled and I could hear steps coming closer and closer to me until it came to a sudden halt. The mist slowly cleared away, but the dense grey mist remained, cutting off any visual on the outside. My eyes traveled higher to stare what seemed to be a really tall individual of about 11 feet tall, give or take a few inches off. While the voice was a old raspy male voice, it wasn't human, far from it. The... thing, was actually a really tall demon-lookalike with scarred grayed skin, brown horns, awful looking digitigraded knees bent in a horrid way, obsidian colored hooves, massive ebony claws that seemed to gleam without any lighting, "**...actually, I have a lot of names: demon, beast, plague, destroyer of the worlds-**"

I interrupted it here by giving the demon-lookalike a deadpan look, "Is that supposed to mean something to me? Because it isn't."

The thing shrugged its spike covered shoulders and let out a sigh out of its mouth. The demon or whatever's mouth was a set of rotten teeth that didn't even move when it talked; either that or the thing is a damn good ventriloquist.

"**Perhaps... or perhaps not,**" it said, "...**Not to you.**" I kept the Chidori still active and had a clear shot at its diaphragm. The strike should end its miserable life had I not noticed a huge, fatal wound on that thing's chest and it was still breathing like the wound wasn't even there. If it can shrug that off then what change do I stand against it? "**Not yet anyway.**"

_I better play my cards here or I'll really die here... wherever _here_ is._

"**What if I told you that I could send you back home?**" the beast, or demon or whatever gave a devilish smile. I saw it opened its mouth a bit, revealing a set rotten gums, too.

I recoiled in shock at what it said. Sure I want to go home, but I can't just leave things here unattended now that I messed it up. What if Luffy and the others die just because I got here? There is already the case that someone's after me, if what the spitmouth in Arabasta told me. I don't need them to go after Luffy without a help or at the very least without me fixing this mess.

I narrowed my Sharingan eyes at the thing, still smirking as if it was superior to everything and all.

"I would be highly skeptical," I shifted the One Thousand Bird technique behind my back as a sign that I won't attack unless he does it first.

"**Hahahahahaha! Very good!**" the thing laughed, hard, whether it was because of my comment or my body language I didn't know. It gave me another look with its hate-filled eyes that made me shiver, "**Very smart, indeed. However, I don't have time for subtle revelations. Much is being hidden from you.**"

Suddenly I felt every muscle in my body go numb and cold by the Killing Intent the thing was emanating. _Unreal,_ I thought, both marvelling and fearing the power it had. My eyes widened when the lightning technique turned off; I assumed it was because the Sakki of that beast stopped my chakra flow or I'm scared to even consider attacking it.

Still smirking like a demented Cheshire Cat, it brought its claws in front of my face. Again I shivered in fear by knowing I will die here, but alas that wasn't the case as it gently tapped my forehead with its sharp claw.

"**Expect me soon...**"

The next thing I knew the mist and the beast were both gone, revealing the same green grass, cloudless sky, extremely tall trees that would put most skyscrapers in shame and weird animals who looked like they were banished from Tšernobyl.

_"Why did you stop?" _the male voice curiously inquired.

"What?" I asked stupidly, making the two sentient weapons sweatdrop.

_"You stopped walking not three seconds ago. Are you positive that you're alright?"_

I waved their concerns off with a wave of a hand and laughter, "I'm fine, I'm fine. If something is wrong then you guys will be the first to know about it."

Actually I wasn't not, far from it. The words that thing said still kept playing in my head like a broken record. How did it know my fathers name? Does it have access to my memories or did it know beforehand? Can it really send me back home?

_No,_ I shook my head and began walking towards what appears to be a stadium, or was it an arena. _I still remember that voice from earlier after my break-out from the marine chambers. Something tells me I'm safer here than back home._

**Bang!**

I stopped in my tracks and turned my head to where that noise came from: the arena/stadium. _Was that a gunshot? I think it is, I better check that out._ I decided to run towards it instead of wasting chakra like I did earlier; better to be safe than sorry.

When I walked inside the entrance, I saw that the stadium was actually a racetrack, much like Nascar but with metal plating. The first thing I noticed was the eerily quite crowd staring at me, then Robin, Zoro, Sanji and Chopper also imitating the crowd. The other two humans stopped stomping on a guy wearing a straw-hat who was barely conscious. Once the dust settled down I saw Daxter trying to bite Luffy's nose off.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked and kept walking forward towards the familiar faces, "Who are these people? Why do you have bandages on your hands? Why is Luffy holding a gun? Do you know how dangerous that is? Someone could literally die, and let me tell you if it isn't Sanji then I'm going to be pissed."

"OF ALL TIMES YOU WAKE UP NOW!" the crew minus Robin and Luffy – still beaten to a pulp, but let out a groan of agreement – yelled in unison.

I didn't understand what their problem was and made my confusion shown through my visage instead of simply asking, "What are you people on about, I slept what, few hours and you shout at me like I murdered a puppy – which I haven't, mind that."

"And the point is?" Sanji asked, litting one of his cancer rolls.

"The point is: I can sleep as long as I goddamn want."

"You were out cold for almost two days," Nami blankly informed me, "had it not been for your late training with Zoro and dozen of sleeping pills meant for a full grown elephant. We'd been more inclined to drown you into the bottom of the ocean if you hadn't slept."

"Ezekiel-niisan," I shifted my gaze from Nami to Chopper, expecting another tongue lashing from our resident doctor, "You do know that even after everything that's happened to you. You are still not fully recovered."

"That so," I said, feigning ignorance about my health. "I think I agree with you, Doctor Feelgood. I might have accumulated mental anguish. Oh, and I saw the most fucked up dream in a long time, or I hope it was a dream. I hate dreaming, why do we even need them? They're just illusions, once we can barely remember anyway, and you can't have snacks while watching them. Worst. Movie. _EVER._"

"Ezekiel Vane, how nice of you to join us," a rather annoying voice called my name. I rolled my eyes and turned to look at whoever said my name only to fall down in shock by the horrendous image in front of me.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Holy shit you are one _ugly _son of a bitch," the crowd's earlier whispers gasped for air in either shock or the lack of air. The man, who's name I forgot, slumped down on the ground and got depressed by my harsh words.

"Subtle as always, eh?" a small orange furred creature climbed to my shoulder.

"First those two," he pointed at Nami and Usopp, both whistling an innocent tune, "And now you. Why are you people so cruel to me? Did I do something to deserve this?"

"Yes," I blankly replied, "The reason being that face. God, I mean look at it. If I had eaten something before leaving I'd throw up a storm." The crowd went into a shouts of obscurities that I tried – and failed – to ignore.

"I don't want him in our crew."

"He's just like that heartless witch."

"No respect for the great Foxy-sama."

I blinked at the last one and gave the man who was currently being sweet-talked by a pointy-nosed girl in a red jumpsuit, "Are you Foxy the Silver Fox?" I asked, this time hoping for some type of confirmation because my memory isn't what it used to be after being subjected to a torrent of multimillion surge of electricity... and the talk with the _thing_.

"You know the Split-head?" Luffy, who now recovered by the earlier assault asked after dusting what dust he had on himself.

"No," I lied through my emotionless mask, "I only know that he and his... posse, are the lowest form of life in this world. I personally think he should be renamed to _Assface McFaceass,_" que another row of gasps and laughter from Luffy and Daxter who rolled off from my shoulder in fit of laughter. "But seriously, I didn't even know it was written in human genome to get this ugly. I really hope he won't have children because I'd hate to think what they'd look like if he decides to breed. And I also hate to think about the poor woman who would be brave enough to mate with his ugly ass of a face. Jesus Christ, I think I'm traumatized. I think I'll kill him now just because he's that ugly, let it out of its misery, do the world a favor by getting rid of that smudge on my window. I mean, he's probably done some horrible things but nothing, can get worse, than a face like that."

Usopp nudged Nami to get her attention, "Even we weren't that harsh with our _Ego Up & Down Plan_ earlier on the race."

"Yes, but we aimed to lower his self-esteem. Ezekiel-kun here shattered it into millions of pieces," Nami said, hiding the fact that she was inwardly laughing.

"And here I thought you don't judge people by appearance alone. Damn hypocrite," grumbled Zoro with a shake of his head, not wanting to admit he found my insult at least a bit humorous. But that wasn't him, he'd rather cut his own arm than laugh at my 'joke'. Unless it involved Mihawk.

"Great," Sanji groaned, "He made enemies in less than a minute."

I slowly turned my head at the duo, "What did you two just say? Zato-ino? Nanpa?"

Zoro, the useless swordspig and Sanji, the skirt chaser turned their gazed murderously towards me, "I see the kid got some balls."

"If anyone mentions balls then rest assured it is you, Sanji-chan," the mentioned blond cook took a stance by moving his left leg a step back, he was getting sick of me.

"I knew you were all bark and no bite," Zoro said, "Why don't you go back to sleep, dream about being the greatest ninja there is and let this gig to the big boys. Your wasting my time, pussy."

"Oh, wow. I'm getting ripped off by a guy who has _green_ fucking hair," I threw my own set on the table, "What did you do to get that color anyway? Let the Incredible Hulk piss on your head?" Moments later, or should I say a fraction of a second later we were in each others throats, some trying to rip it and some trying to cut it. The brawl lasted about few seconds before Nami broke it up by planting her fist in each of our skulls. While I stopped fighting or aggravating them at the very least, I began to ask what the hell was this whole thing about.

"Long story short," Daxter hopped back into my shoulder. A pretty impressive feet for someone who is shorter than Chopper in his Chibi-form. "Those idiots challenged these idiots you call your pirate crew, the biggest idiot, also known as Captain Imbessil, accepted the challenge without a second thought. Three events, the first one was a complete and utter failure when that ugly idiot cheated. The second one, where those two idiots you just fought won by getting their asses handed to them by giant idiots. The third and last one the Captain Moron won the race with tooth and nail. End of story."

Throught his report I gave the ottsel a nod of understanding, "And by the earlier gunshot means that we have to take this _again?_" I looked at Luffy who was eating a pile of what I assumed was a brown banana, but the innards of the fruit itself was green, similar to that of a kiwi, "You continue to _amaze_ me Luffy. I don't know how you do it."

Luffy grinned, not taken aback my constant insults on him. On the contrary, he was happy, "Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment," I said with a deadpan look. "I was being sarcastic."

"Oh... can you eat that?"

"No, Luffy. You can't eat sarcasm," I rubbed my forehead where _thing_ touched me and felt an odd feeling of something I can't quite explain, but I do know that I didn't like it. I walked over to Robin and decided to ask something that's been bugging me. "So... Robin..." I drawled out, not sure how I should talk with her. One mistake and she'll break my neck like a teaball stick.

"Yes?" she glanced towards my position, mildly intrested by what I have to say.

"What's with those bangages on the guys and one girls arm?" Robin gave me a small smile and cocked her head to my katana.

"You are a hard person to wake up. Every time someone tried to disturb your sleep, a cut appears on their palm. Tell me, is that an volutarily action or a subconscious one?"

I picked up the katana from the sheat and gave her a frown, "I don't know, I _was_ in a drug induced sleep. Anything can happen when I'm in that state," I gave Robin a worried glance. "Please tell me I didn't harrass you or anyone. Because if I did then I'm sorry, any foreign substance in my body makes me feel fuzzy."

"No."

"Oh thank Go-!" I sighed in relief but quickly stopped, "Wait a minute, I'm an atheist. Thank you meaningless emptiness we call universe!"

The whole banter was stopped by Foxy who appeared to be fine, albeit a little bit pale from what I can see. His crew – I assume – were still glaring daggers at me from the crowd and the other five individual behind him, one of the was a huge square of a man, a six-armed merman, a cheetah, another merman armed with blades and the girl with the pointy-nose. All of them wearing rollescates, weird.

"Can we get this event behind us or do you guys have more catching up to do?" Foxy asked, staring at Luffy who peacefully sat on the ground, ignorant to this dilemma he brought upon us.

"Oh, right! I did accept the rematch didn't I?" Luffy laughed with the same joyous laugh Sensei used to have.

"Ugh, again this?" my sidekick complained, receiving a row of angry glares.

"Throught this event, you didn't lift a finger to help," Nami glared at the ottsel acting tough now that he had me as his meatshield.

"What did you expect me to do? Stay fuzzy or compete, the first option sounds more appealing. Which is more I can say mutt you call a face," a shroud of Killing Intent made me back away and look elsewhere when a couple of quick steps and a 'swoosh' of wind later made me look back to see the ottsel knocked out on the grass.

"Well, now that the dumbass accepted the challenge, we don't have much of a choice," Zoro stated with a shrug.

"Perhaps he has an ulterior motive," Robin chanted in.

"You think so?" Sanji inquire, raising his swirly eyebrow in confusion until something dawned on him, "Oh, do you think he's trying to pick up a shipwright here?"

"I doubt that," I injected, "I'm mean, look at these clowns," I motioned my hand across Foxy and his stolen yet loyal crew. "Hand picked monkeys is what they look. We'd have more chance of survival to sail inside a Sea King's bowels than to let one of them _fix_ Merry-chan."

Foxy again slumped down on a heap of depression and melancholia, "Must you be so cruel to Oyabin?" the girl with the pointy-nose sent a heated glare towards me.

"No. I'm what you call; kind of a dick."

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><p><strong>[To Be Continued]<strong>

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><p>Shit, we're here... the end of this chapter, not this story.<p>

Now, unlike most authors here, I have a legitimate excuse to hold off this story without any notice on my part. The reason, or more like my excuse is that I've been abroad. The distance between me and my computer was about 4000 kilometers, or 2500 miles to some people outside Europe.

If you were wondering where I've been, I was the first few weeks in Dubai, from there I flied – on a plane – to Capetown in South Africa and lounged there for a month with no internet connection... well, no _free_ internet connection. I tried to write the this chapter there but alas I couldn't, didn't feel motivated enough and the use of said service was outrageous not to mention as slow as a melting stick of butter down the hill.

That trip took me about a whole month and 3 weeks. You're probably wondering: "But 1337box, you could've updated the next chapter after your vacation, why didn't you do that?" For that I have yet another annotation. See, my eldest brother got into a car accident, and since I have bad a experienceswith accidents involving vehicles, I rushed over to him. Luckily he survive with minor bone fractures and concussion, which left me scared for his wellbeing and my train of thought was completely shattered with it.

Damn it, I'm being sentimental again, had to get that out of my chest. Oh, and before I forget, visit my profile for more pictures of Ezekiel created by _DarkDHeritage _or _thedarkheritage_ from Deviantart.

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><p><strong>Review response: <strong>I'm tired and decided to answer to reviews with questions or whatnot.

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><p>KuroHi91: I tried adding the Sharingan, believe me, I tried but it always comes out retarded.<p>

Cone: The Choppy-dance didn't work...

SeaDevil: The black rose was just a thing to add into the scene, there's nothing worthwhile mentioning about it. And yes, I'll try to write the next the Davy Back arc with a new twist.

DarkDHeritage: Amazing sketches, breathtakingly amazing.

Majishan: I believe that the Davy Back arc and the one where Aokiji were two completely different scenes with the latter coming after the former.

Yonet: Nah, for that you have to wait, I have a better idea. The fanclub badge isn't available... yet.

Guest (Whoever you are): Thank you!

Dartya: Are you a psychic or something? Because that's exactly what it is and yet it isn't.

Suntan140: I'll try to rewrite the one I was supposed to update... or start over with a new one.

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><p>Keep reviewing! It'll keep me motivated!<p> 


	60. Hit & Dead Ball

**Chapter 60: Hit & Dead Ball.**

**Quotation of the Week: **69% of the population will find something dirty in every sentence.

**Disclaimer: This chapter has been brought to you by Pentoxin, who oddly enough, doesn't pay me shit; meaning I don't make any profit out of this story. If I did, you'd be seeing hippos shot out of cannons.**

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><p>"...so through the power of deduction, you would basically come to the conclusion that... Santa Claus was a pedophile?"<p>

"Focus on these games rather than on your continuous blabbering. It's getting annoying," Zoro growled in his usual seemingly foul mood. I let our a groan, showing my discomfort at not wanting to do anything with this crap. But as usual, our resident navigator threatened to strangle me if I didn't – which sounded a bit kinky to me.

"Spoil-sport."

"Now, we're back for another three-coin game!" The announcer exclaimed through a snail voice-amplifier planted all around the place. It was also then that I noticed the huge ship right behind the goat-headed on; my ADD seems to get worse. "The events will be a crew-on-crew ball game, a eight-on-eight retro game, and one-on-one battle! Just like in the last game, each crew member can only participate in two events and no changes to the entries are permitted!"

"So that means we get to compete in the first and second event while Luffy does the first and the third. Well... I can't complain about that," I grinned as I bought a box full of chocolate from a nearby stall. The stuff was expensive as hell, but wasn't really a problem considering I'm a millionaire through illegal means.

_Hell, if I sell the jewels I'll have more money than Zoro's initial bounty. That means my overall worth is two Zoro's! Now I know how rich people feel..._

"How so?" Daxter said, muching on a bar of chocolate while sitting a top of my head.

"Luffy is strong, I'm sure he'll do just fine," my smile was still plastered on my face, all the while ignoring people giving me shifty glances for insulting their captain. I found the others discussing something untrivial near the announcer.

After I sat down on a pitch outlined with white chalk, I began to pay closer attention.

"We're now ready for the fist event – Hit & Dead Ball!" the commentator shouted, "And as always, I'll explain the rules! There are two balls in play," I looked at the mentioned round objects and raised and eyebrow; the balls had spikes. Granted, they were dull enough not to kill anyone – only inflict pain or uncomfort. "These balls are used to hit the opposing team's players!"

_No shit..._

"Anyone who is hit is immeadiately disqualified! The goal is to hit all of the opposing players! Whichever team loses all of its members on the field first loses! Each team can choose how many players to have on or off the field! However, once someone has been selected to be off the field, they are not allowed to come in, even when someone is knocked out!"

"I see," Sanji nodded, "It souds like a variation of dodgeball."

I wiped a tear our of my eye, "Ah, that brings me back to the old times where I used to throw these at people... good times."

While I was reminiscencing the old times, the announcer threw a book to Robin who caught it with four arms, two of them sprouting out of her shoulders.

"A rule book?" Chopper queried.

"It's quite a thick book," Robin mused, whether it was supposed to be inwardly or not I don't know. She was still as apathetic as she can be, not to mention pretty stuborn when she wants to. For example, she tried to pry the info about the supposed crypted cube residing in my head by at first talking about it, but I did notice the subtle telltales that if I keep the secret for myself, she'll eventually use force. Very much how she did to Tashigi in Alabasta.

_That was fucked up as hell..._

"Yes, Hit & Dead Ball is the oldest and most historic game of the Davy Back Fight!" the announcer continued, "Over the years, various rules have been added and it had evolved into the strict version we'll play today!"

"Who cares if the rules are strict?" Nami gave the announcer a blank look, "If no one follows them, they don't mean a thing. They're probably designed to give you an advantage, right?"

"No, no, no." The announcer whose name I had trouble remembering wagged his fingers at Nami's question, "Please read the first page."

Robin opened up the book and read the very first rule in its exact words saying: "Fair play must be observed. Any person who does not abide by the rules contained within will be decapitated."

"Decapitated!?" Chopper, Daxter and Usopp panicked by the very thought of getting their heads lopped.

"Does it say anything about hanging by a noose?" I asked Robin who shooked her head. "Bummer, I wanted to be hanged. It would seem more noble that way. You know, have a noose wrapped around you neck, sit on a horse, spank the horse and die."

"Are you out of your mind!?"

The annoucer, now named Itomimizu after few minutes of brain stoming, shrugged and continued to do his job. "Oh, and by the way, the official for this fame is a veteran with fifty years of experience!" he motioned to four tall individuals and one short old man, "That man, Chief Official Rokuroshi, and his staff will be the referees for this event."

"It sounds like this'll be a fair fight," Zoro smirked and disarmed himself out of his swords since weapons were not allowed. I did the same with my own and set the ottsel in duty to guard my two weeks supplies of chocolate.

_I better buy some more, you never know who or what might eat my babies._

"The Foxy Team is out in full force!" Itomimizu shouted, marvelling at the pitch full of masked pirates. "This is quite a sight!"

"I'm still not impressed..." I said in a deadpan voice, elicting yet another row of disapprovement from the opposing team. The announcer looked at us, or more specifically our team consisting of Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Chopper, Usopp and me with the two females and ottsel on the sidelines.

"With a team this size, the smaller Straw Hat Team certainly seems to be at a disadvantage! They have a mere nine-person crew," Itomimizu chuckled.

"Don't call us mere!" Usopp defended our pride by shouting back.

I looked behind us and saw that our sideline were full of people, the one that stood out the most was a giant half fishman with yellow speedoes, boots and gloves. Sanji in the meantime was drooling over a pack of scantily clad women.

"Oh," I stretched my arms a few times, "this should be intresting."

"Now let's begin! First come the double-jump start!" two of the staff people walked to the center of the ring, both holding the game ball in their hand.

"Two players from each team, come forward!" the old man acting as the referee beckoned towards us to step into the center circle of the pitch.

"Guys," Chopper grinned, determination and the need to prove himself shining in his eyes, "I wanna go!"

"Then it's all yours," Zoro returned the grin, not the usual I'll-cut-you-into-pieces grin but a genuine one, "Jump like you mean it."

"Go get 'em tiger," I gave the reindeer doctor a thumbs up.

"Yosh!"

We watched as Chopper plopped a Rumble Ball in his mouth and transformed into a lanky human-deer hybrid. I decided to sit this one out and watch the game from afar, but still inside the pitch. I was sure the people here focused more on the games than in my presense.

"Pst, kid." Someone from the sidelines tried to get my attention. I looked around, wondering who it was when the person waved and got the attention he tried to get from me.

"What is it?" I stared at the guy with familiar blue-eyes, chestnut brown hair and long ivory fisherman jacket. He seemed oddly familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on who he was. "Do I know you?"

"Tactless as ever, I see." The man chuckled, "It's me, Matt. The guy who asked you to join his crew in Lisnor Island."

"…"

"...you rejected my invitation..."

"…"

"...you were attacked by my nakama after refusing..."

"…" I kept my blank face, trying to remember him in my adventures so far to no avail, "Sorry, can't remember."

Matt gave a sigh of disappointment, "We met in Loguetown... and in Alabasta, too."

"Oh, right." I snapped my finger in recognition, "There's you and that woman named Gary."

"Mary."

"That's what I just said," I huffed, "So... what are you guys doing here?" Matt motioned to his mask garment strapped on his head. I let out a short 'oooh' and shrugged. "That means were enemies, right? Why are you talking to me then?"

"Because..." Matt drawled out, struggling to form a word, "I need your help."

"My help?"

"Yes..." the voice was barely above whispering but I could still hear him. "We were challenged by the Foxy pirates and... well, you see where it lead. We just wanted more people on our crew, guess that didn't work out as planned."

"I guess not." I deadpanned, "Look, there's nothing _I_ can do, but if you take this matter to my captain, he'll be able to think about something... or I hope he can. Nowadays thinking is becoming harder and harder with him around. I think I'm developing Parkinson's," I thought about this a bit more, "Or... I have a better one: just wait."

"Wait?"

"Yes, wait." I grinned, "Good things will come if you wait."

Matt let out a short laughter, "You want me to take your word for granted?"

"More or less. You can't trust a pirate, even a fellow one. It's like that saying: keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." I stood up from my crouching position and dusted myself off of any dirt, "Ja-ne."

By the time I returned back to the crew, I saw from the corner of my eye that the giant man with speedoes was about to throw something. Seeing that the opposing team didn't have one of the game balls, I guessed that he was about to hurl both of them towars us.

"Go, Big Pan!" Foxy cheered, "End this in one blow!"

The giant made a strong throwing motion and swirled the ball towards us once the opposing pirates took cover, including Matt.

Usopp, in one of his mood, tried to use one of us as a meatshield, "If those hit me, I'll die! I'll get this and it's over!"

The first to dodge the fast ball were Zoro and Sanji who both tilted their heads lazily to the side, succesfully avoiding the ball with such little movement. I blinked as the ball got bigger and bigger in my vision. Sure it was going fast, but it was easily dodgeable as I bend in such a manner that I became perpendicular with the ground, watching the ball swirl over my head. Luffy and Chopper avoided it via their respective Devil Fruit-abilities while the poor Usopp froze in fear and got the brunt end of the strike.

"Well," I scrathed my head seeing Usopp vanish into the dust and debris created by the impact, "He had it coming."

"Isn't that a bit cynical?" Sanji glanced over to the marksman where he saw Usopp, along with twenty others, were fine over the sideline, meaning they were out of the game.

"On the contrary. I think that ball had his name written all over it."

"Maybe it was fated," Zoro mused outloud.

"I personally don't believe in fate or destiny," I gently rubbed my left eye, "I believe in various degrees of hatred, paranoia, and abandonment. However much of that gets heaped upon you doesn't really matter – it's only a matter of how much you can take and what it does to you."

While the announcer kept shouting on the snail microphone-looking-thing. The opposing team's captain was grumbling something under his breath with his last and only suborbinate left on the game; something involving Robin, his powers and bringing _him_ out.

_Come to think of it. What was Foxy's ability?_

Still thinking about my lack of memory so far, Robin somehow managed to sneak the ball on top of the giant dude's head using her own powers, leaving Foxy alone in the game. There was a lot of shouting, more shouting and Sanji once again acting like an ass. One or two sweet talks from the girls on the sidelines and he's out.

"Isn't this lovely," I followed the knocked out cook being dragged out of the field by a angry navigator, "I didn't even lift a finger to help and yet I'm still here."

"You mellorine dumbass." Zoro grumbled.

"Hey, Ezekiel." Luffy called out to me, "You want to take the last shot?"

"As much as I would like to throw something in his ugly mutt, that honor goes to you. You are, after all, the captain. You don't have to ask me for permission, I'm following you remember?" I shrugged, showing that it was actually all the same to me as long as I can get back to my box full of chocolate and that I trusted his actions, whatever they may be in the coming future.

We looked back at Foxy and felt the ground below us shake. Behind him, a giant cannon was being dragged into the field. I rubbed the back of my neck in confusion, since when did they have time to build that?

"There he is!" Itomimizu nearly threw himself out of his seat, "It's the Hit & Dead Ball Multi-item! The cannon, Dead Hit-kun!"

"Isn't that against the rules?" I tilted my head to the side in another fit of confusion. Usopp ran towards the old referee, shouting the same thing I just did only to be told that the cannon is part of the game and confirmed by Robin, stating that it was written in the rulebook. _This wouldn't happen if they'd let me read the book with the Sharingan, but then again, I'll use discretion; you're not allowed to do that to rulebooks._

"That's so cool!" Luffy shouted, his eyes sparkling with yellow stars, "It looks like fun!"

"What a stupid stunt." Zoro growled, still in his bad mood of everything not going smoothly as it should be. But, then again, he's near Luffy. Nothing goes smoothly with the captain around, "Oi, bringing that out isn't going to help you!"

"Just like a plastic surgery won't help you get rid of that ugly face of yours!"

As usual, Foxy got depressed, mumbling something incoherrent. Unfortunately for us, he was quickly rejuvinated back to his aloof self by the cheers of the crowd. Foxy's eyes first were set on me, annoyance written on his face.

"The first one to go out is you, Vane!" he shouted, aiming the now loaded ball launcher towards me. "Porche, are you ready?"

"Yes, Oyabin!" Porche, the girl in the red jumpsuit, took a baton and twirled it around her finger, "Here I go! Ohana Saimin! (Flower Hypnosis!)" the girl stopped spinning the baton, revealing that the stick now had a bouquet of flowers sticking out of it amd pointed to us.

"Charming," I said in a deadpan voice.

"She's using hypnosis! Don't look at her!" Nami warned us. But, of course, I ignored her and stared directly at the bouquet of crimson roses, "Ezekiel-kun! What the hell are you doing! Don't look at her!"

I kept looking at the baton, like _really_ looked at it despite the warning being shout around. Porche was getting more and more arrogant thinking her hypnosis had any effect on me. Soon the smile turned into shock that I wasn't asleep much less yawning. As a matter of fact, I was impatiently tapping my foot on the ground waiting for something to happen.

"That's cute and all, but, am I supposed to feel threatened – because I kinda don't."

"W-What? How are you still awake?" Porche backed off in fright, "No one has ever been able to resist my hypnosis!"

I heard Usopp gasp slightly, but instead of shock it was in some sort of recognition, "That's right!" he suddenly exclaimed, "He has a condition that prevents him from sleeping from one interval to another!"

"Must you be so loud? I'm already ashamed about it already, no need to shout it to everyone," I rolled my eyes.

"This is simply astonishing! Ezekiel the bad-mouth Shinobi," que a twitch of my eyebrow, "Is immune to Porche-chan's hypnosis!" Itomimizu suddenly took a deep inhale of breath. "But what is this!? The other Straw Hat players are lying on the ground unconscious!"

"What? But how? They had their eyes closed!" Nami shouted from the sidelines, watching in horror seeing the three knocked out. I myself was also stunned, she said hypnosis, not airborne knock-out gas, shouldn't that like, effect everyone?

_Maybe it's the potency and the fact that it's kinda drafty today. I guess the wind did the job of dispercing any chemical to tolerable level... heh heh, I'm a scientist._

Porche laughed, now back to her usual arrogant self, "Hahahaha! Hypnosis is not all about eye contact, it's about connecting with people's senses."

"She does make a point," Robin glanced from her book over to my current state of dilemma, "To utilize hypnosis, one must make a contact with the brain and alter its conscious state. Sight, smell, sound, taste and touch are all linked to the brain, thus meaning it is unavoidable to some extent."

_Great,_ I snarled in thought, watching all three members of my team of dodgeball taking a nap in the middle of the day. _Luffy's already insusceptible to illusion, Zoro here sleeps even if the slightest of yawns escapes his throat and Chopper..._ I looked at the reindeer sleeping on top of Zoro's head. "And Chopper got the full brunt of the gas no thanks to his heightened smell," I thought the last part outloud, elicting a small chuckle from Foxy who readied the ball launcher.

"Brilliant deduction, Vane." Foxy smirked, letting out another fit of haughty laughter, "But even if I miss, I'll still hit my target!"

"Oi! Luffy, Chopper, Marimo! Wake up!" I heard Sanji yell through the cheering of the crowd. While I was busy stomping on Zoro's head, Foxy already shot the ball directly towards me.

_Fast!_ I thought and was about to kick the swordsman away when he suddenly jerked up and karate-chopped the ball in half, "What... the... fuck?" I stared at the snoring swordsman standing immobile, if I didn't know any better, I'd say he's awake... only with his eyes closed and a snot bubble rising and falling from his nostril. The ball deflated and splitted into two halves on the ground as nothing more than a rubbery plastic cups.

"Amazing! Absolutely incredible! The swordsman, Zoro, split the ball barehanded, and did that while asleep!" Itomimizu cried out.

"Muscle memory?" I asked myself, but quickly shook that idea out of my head.

"No." Sanji shook his head, clearly aware of the situation, "It wasn't muscle memory. Muscle memory was purely mental. That action comes from the brain itself, not in the muscles. If the muscle memories were in the muscles themselves then the muscles would have to have some sort of biological data bank. It doesn't have any sort of biological data bank. Instinct perhaps, but not muscle memory."

"I see..." Robin nodded and went back to reading, "Very impressive knowledge, Mr. Cook."

Sanji immediately went from smartass to asslicker in about two thirds of a second, "Ooh, it was nothing~!"

"Straw Hat Team, Zoro, out!"

"What!? Why!?" Usopp and Nami respectively yelled to the referee.

"Rule #645: The ball may not be cut!" he pointed to Foxy and his monster of a cannon, "The Foxy Team will receive a new ball."

"Shit." I cussed out, now I have to delay my date with the box of chocolate.

"Hehe, too bad for you. Fuehfehfehfeh!" Foxy laughed.

"Ah, what a shame!" Itomimizu leaned forward seeing that this game just got a lot more pain in the ass for me, "The swordsman, Zoro is disqualified! He must leave the field!"

"Hmph," I growled and swiftly kicked the disqualified Zoro out of the field next to Nami, "Munō kenshin (Incompetent swordsman)."

"Things are getting intresting! This is now a three-on-one match with the Straw Hat Team having two of their own unconscious! What will Ezekiel do? Can he protect the two on his own? The rules state that once someone had been selected inside the field, they are not allowed to leave, even when someone is knocked out!"

"Well isn't this a fancy teapart..." Daxter said behind the sound of muching.

Foxy let out his distinct laughter, aiming the ball launched at Chopper, "Now on to the next one! Supersonic speed level! Done!" the split-head man pulled down a lever and I could feel dread filling in my stomach.

_Supersonic speed? He can't possibly break the speed of sound with that thing can he?_ If he truly can break the sound barried then I'm fucked.

"Let's see if you can dodge this!" Foxy shouted, pressing the launch button and with it releasing the play ball in high-velocity. I smirked, that ball wasn't nowhere near Mach One. Though I should've know better than to believe in his bluff.

The ball was coming near Chopper, I could tell if that hits him then it'll hurt more than a little bit. I ran towards the reindeer, grabbed him by his antlers and backflipped over the swirling ball with the doctor secured in my arms.

I smirked, "You missed."

"Did I?"

"Oi, dumbass! Behind you!" Sanji yelled from the sidelines.

I looked back and saw the ball bounced off from a large, rectangular man standing on the sidelines. The ball wasn't fast anymore but that didn't worry me much as the fact it was heading straight towards the snoozing Luffy. I quickly let go of Chopper's antlers in mid-running and caught the ball right before it touched the captain's torso.

"Phew," I huffed a sigh of relief, "That was close."

"What an amazing feat of speed from Ezekiel Vane!" Itomimizu this time praised me, "A selfless action from such a cold-hearted man! There might still be hope for him!"

"Urusai!" I shouted from the to keep their mouths shut, "Sanji, here. Hold this for me."

"Why is that?" the blond cook asked, lazily cathing the ball I threw with one hand, "You have a plan?"

"Yup!" I grinned, positioning myself in a horse-stance with the feet parallel to each other. "The next shot... I'm going to catch it!"

"Yeah, good luck with that."

"What?" I angrily turned to Sanji, "You doubt me?"

"Aren't we confident," Foxy smirked as he loaded yet another ball onto the launcher, "If so then I have a surprise for you."

"Really?" I asked genuinly intrigued, "I like surprises! Does it include you wearing a mask to hide that hidious face? Because I would appreciate it."

As usual, Foxy hung his head down, complemented with a gloomy purple cloud over his head, "He called me ugly again."

"Oyabin! Don't listen to him!"

"Yeah! He's just another lost soul!"

"Obviously he and the she-witch are a match made in heaven. Both have a deep hatred to our beloved captain."

"Me and _her?_" I stared at the pirate who said the last part and laughed, "Ha!" I quickly had to shut my yap by the Killing Intent being emanated from the implied girl. She wasn't happy, that much I could tell, but whatever's building up between us keeps getting tense, alluring even. "Do you know you grind your teeth at night?"

"Huh?" Nami's anger quickly dissipated and was replaced with puzzlement, "I do?"

"Yeah," I nodded, "That's sexy."

_At least I know how to push the right buttons._ I gave myself a mental pat on the shoulder for having succesfully dimineshed her urge to maim me, so far.

"Keep your eye on the birdie!" I heard Foxy shout, a pull of a lever, him pressing a button and a loud noice. My head turned to see the game ball flying towards me with much higher pace than previously.

_He's up to something,_ I though as the ball was heading closer and closer. _Should I catch it? It's going fast, but since force is applied to mass times acceleration... I should be able to catch it. I think I can catch it. I hope I can catch it... _

The ball took a sudden spin to it, giving me a final statement of my next action.

_Fuck it, I'll just dodge, save my back._

I let myself fall to my right seeing the ball going in a linear direction, probably crashing into one of Foxy's goons. My eyes widened when it suddenly turned to its right, going straight towards the unguarded Chopper.

"Impossible!" Nami shouted, less shocked than I was, "It swerved 90 degrees... to the right?"

I cursed under my breath and blasted towards Chopper with chakra-laced soles. I knew I wouldn't make it but I at least had to do something.

**Crash!**

Dust and debris flew everywhere, covering me and Chopper in a cloud of dirt made from the impact of the game ball.

"Did he make it?" the announcer questioned himself, "Was Ezekiel's rescue on time or did he fail to save his comrade! Another selfless deed made by the foul-mouthed Ninja!"

About half a minute later the cloud of smoke scattered across the winds, I saw I didn't have any ball. But I did have three dislocated fingers, that must count for something. I stood up and dusted myself while letting out a short grimace at my current predicament.

"Straw Hat Team, Chopper, out!"

"What!?" Usopp, again, shouted at the referee. He and the rest of the people gathered around saw that I indeed touched the ball, but it still made contact with Chopper.

Ignoring their gazes, I picked up the doctor and walked over to Usopp, "I'm sorry." The words were more directed to Chopper than anyone else.

"What did you do?" he took the unconscious reindeer from me, carefully placing him on the ground.

I dumbly scrathed my head, "I knew I wasn't going to make it in time so I improvised." Here I showed Usopp my damaged fingers on the left hand. The marksman winced seeing my fingers bent horribly and much to his horror, I tried to set the joints back but couldn't, it hurts, "I might need a lot of painkillers."

"Can you tell us more?" Itomimizu said in a barely contained excitement, "We couldn't see anything due to the dust blocking our vision."

"Uhm...you see..." I stammered, not sure how I should explain with all the eyes on me, "I went after the ball and basically used my whole arm as some sort of a meat club to bludgeon said ball into the ground as you can see it lying on the small crater. Chopper-kun should be fine, nothing serious happened."

"Yet another save from Vane!" I sweatdropped by the commentators way of rhyming my lastname, it was funny and yet awfully disturbing, "Inside this cold-hearted man lies a human afterall. He was deceiving us all into believing he's this harsh, detached, insensitive, callous, unkind, frigid as-"

"Yeah, I get it! I get it! I'm a bastard." I growled with narrowed eyes, this time turning around to face the referee, "So I'm still in the game or what?"

The old man referee got out of his high stool and walked over to me, observing the damaged fingers and arm. His eyes narrowed deep in thought, "Did the ball hit your wrist?"

I blinked, "No, sir."

He nodded and went back to his chair, "Ezekiel Vane..." Rokuroshi gave off a dramatic pause, enjoying, if somewhat glad, by the silent clearance, "...is safe!"

A round of applause and cheers went through the pitch. I wasn't this confused since the N-sync split up, just about an hour ago I ridiculed, insulted, mocked, humiliated them and their leader yet they're cheering for me? I tried to drone out their shoutings to no avail.

"So what now?" I picked up the ball I clobbered to the ground and motioned for Sanji to throw the other one he was holding without generally looking to where he was stading, "To throw, or not to throw: that is the question..."

"Yes!" Nami cheered from the sidelines, obviously happy about the turn of tables, "Ezekiel-kun now has two balls-!"

"Of course I have two balls," I interrupted to Nami with a blank look on my face, "You should know, you saw them. And you didn't even apologize, that's rude not to mention inappropiate for such a situation."

The navigator gained a blush on her face once she noticed all eyes were on her, "W-what! I didn't do that!"

"Nami, Nami, Nami," I shook my head in dissapointment, "There's nothing to be ashamed of. Most people suffering from narcissism can't detect it in themselves. Denial ain't just a river in Egypt you know. Neither does the lion lie to his lovers."

"Shut up!"

I ignored her and stomped over to Sanji, "What the hell is taking you so long? Just give me the- where is the ball? Forget it, where is Sanji?" I looked around for the cook but couldn't locate him, it was like he vanished.

Few seconds after my confusion, I felt something soft land on top of my head, then a small thud and something rolling on the ground. I turned around and, to my horror – with a tint of annoyance mixed in between – saw Sanji being smothered by the group of skanks in masks.

"Straw Hat Team, Ezekiel, out!" the referee announced.

"The fuck just happened?" I dropped the ball, signing my defeat and walked over to the sidelines next to my chocolates. Truth be told, I was pissed off. "One job... you had one, small, detailed job..."

"Sanji!" Usopp yelled over to the cook who now noticed he was missing a ball. He looked at the women, then at his hands, and back to the women. It was there he noticed that he fucked up, but didn't care after the women purred out his name.

I mean, seriously, so far Sanji was a strong and a decent guy, but when it comes to women he can be total douche. No self-control what-so-ever. _I swear, he's like a stubborn goat in heat_. I opened the wrapping off from the bar of chocolate and started to eat my anger away.

"What's the matter?" my little orange sidekick asked, setting himself on top of my head.

"Nothing really," I replied, "I'm not even mad, that's amazing."

"Right," he didn't buy it. "Look, I think I know how to wake that idiot you call your captain."

"And that would be?" I couldn't see, but I could tell the furry bastard had a shit-eating grin on his snout. He leaned over to my ear and began to whisper. Once he was done with it, I stood up and shouted a long string of curse words, interrupting Itomimizu from talking about the heated event.

"God-fucking-damn it! Why didn't I think of this sooner! I've really got to stop thinking with my ass all the time!" I stormed over to the sideline, right close where Luffy was taking his peaceful nap.

"What are you up to?" Nami asked after dragging Sanji over to our line and pummeled him into the ground.

"Oi, Luffy! Dinner time!"

The second the word 'Dinner' left my mouth, Luffy's body jerked up and began to frantically look for anything to eat, a line of drool dripping from the corner of his mouth. His eyes set on me and gave off a big ear-to-ear grin, but seemed confused about the lack of food in the vicinity.

"Where the food?" the captain questioned the people around him, "I had a dream about meat and when I wake up I don't see one. Why is that?"

"Luffy," I pinched the bridge of my nose, "Dreams don't work that way. Now, focus on something trivial, like getting this whole clusterfuck of a fest behind so we can sail off."

The rubberman's eyes narrowed when he noticed something out of the question. At first I thought he was going to ask what happened and why Zoro, Chopper and I were outside the field. Alas, he didn't ask us that. What he did ask was this:

"I remember eating a lot when I was dreaming... why am I still hungry?"

A dozen of face faults was heard around us, the absurdity of him asking something this stupid was unheard, so far that is. I took the ball Nami was holding and passed it to Luffy whereas the other ball was handed back to Foxy upon my disqualification.

"Dude, you know what I noticed just now." Daxter said, looking around with suspicious blue-eyes.

"What?"

"You've got a big ass bullseye on your back."

"How's is that?"

"You feel those eyes around you?" I was skeptic at what he said and started to see what he meant. It didn't take me long to see a lot of people giving me a dirty look, most of them competetive and the rest stared at me with contempt. "You know why they look at you like that? It's because you're pretty, you have a big ass bounty, it's because you disrespected their captain."

"So? Since when did other people's opinion – people whom I have never even met – even matter to me? It hasn't in the past and why should it now?" I told him as I opened another bar of chocolate from the box, "Look, I'll be honest with you." Here the human turned ottsel showed some amount of curiousity, "I want to find this guy... the Spirit, or whatever he calls himself nowadays. I already missed my opportunity to talk with Gan Fall about him."

"Why do you want to meet him? Sounds like trouble to me."

"Because Pop's said so."

"Who?"

"The giant lizard from Alabasta. You know, Angel's dad... huge giant reptile... gave me this mark on my hand."

"Oh yeah..." the ottsel nodded in recognition, "So... when will you spill the beans?"

A grim face adorned my face. I knew what he meant by that; when do I tell them the truth that they're not human... well they are, but not _normal _human, as in; not a character specifically designed to keep us entertained.

"As soon as I get my shit straight," I nodded, that seemed like a good plan so far. "I mean, I'm just as confused as they are, if not more. On one occasion your being dumped on the phone and the next you wander around in another plane of existence for exactly... I don't know, about 500 days. See, I'm already losing count and I doubt it even matters."

"Alright, I trust you." Daxter hopped on my shoulder, "But promise me something – don't do anything stupid."

"Sure."

"No, don't be sure." he leveled me a glare, "Say it."

I gave a small sigh of defeat, the ottsel can be pretty stubborn when he wants to. "I... promise."

"Straw Hat Luffy, out!" the referee pointed to his left, signalling that Luffy, the last man on our side of the pitch was disqualified. I stared at the captain holding what seemed to be dozens of dodgeballs wrapped around his rubbery arms. There was no way of telling which one was the real one.

"Why? The face is safe, right?" Usopp continued his streak of complaints to the referee.

"Uh... guys, what happened?" I asked, briefly noticing the other two were wide awake and pissed off. The taller more than the shorter one who looked very much disappointed in himself. I made a mental note to fix that.

Luckily none of them had to tell me what happened because the old man referee announced the reason Luffy's disqualification.

"Rule #999: the ball may not be swallowed." Rokuroshi gave the marksman a one-eyed glare, "It's in the rule book. Look it up."

Robin, still holding the thick book nodded in agreement, a barest hint of surprise marring her usual apathetic visage. "He's right. It's on the very last page."

"Th-That's a rule too?" Usopp stuttered slack-jawed by the absurdity of this.

"The first even, Hit & Dead Ball, is over! The Foxy Team wins!"

Daxter now climbed on top of my head, not believing that Luffy swallowed a ball the size of our resident doctor, "See, it's shit like this-"

"Ugh, I don't even wanna argue with you," I double face-palmed. When the fail is so strong, one face-palm is just not enough. "Watching Luffy make an ass out of himself is like punching kittens. It's funny at first, but then you just lose intrest."

* * *

><p><strong>[To Be Continued]<strong>

* * *

><p>That's all folks!<p>

I intended this to be much shorter than the previous chapter, but I couldn't help it; I had too much fun writing this one. Well... _had_ fun writing until the last few thousand words due to laggy internet connection and taking a break for few days, thus loosing the drive to write.

Be constructive people. Try not to just say 'great story, bro' or 'hope to see the next chapter soon', they do give me a morale boost but leave some suggestions or something, can't work with no criticism.

If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask, they help me notice mistakes I made and hopefully fix them.


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